Danny Castillones Sillada Quotes

To be human is, primarily, to embrace that we are human with strengths and weaknesses, and that our humanity is preordained to seek the Truth, Good and Beauty as part of our humanity. To be human is to be an agent of peace, justice, and reconciliation in our community or society. To be human is to be heroic and generous in an unobtrusive way, free from any selfish motive, with no media to show the litany of our good deeds. To be human is to have time to listen to the story of a grieving soul, to give hope to the hopeless, to give love to the unloved.(Danny Castillones Sillada, A reason to be Human: Human Pathos and Compassion)

Sometimes I wish I had not woken up from a beautiful dream, and continued dreaming within sleep upon sleep until I become a dream itself. Because sometimes waking up is more frightening than a nightmare.

What is the difference between Utilitarianism and Communitarianism? Let me explain to you based on my modest and humblest understanding by using an analogy of Ham Sandwich and Egg Sandwich. To prepare and serve a Ham Sandwich, a poor pig's life must be sacrificed to serve the majority of the consumers - that is Utilitarianism. To serve an Egg Sandwich, on the other hand, a cheerful hen must dutifully lay an egg every day to serve the majority of the consumers - that is Communitarianism. In utilitarianism, the means is not important, as long as it produces the beneficial result (consequentialism) for the majority, then it is ethically and morally justifiable. It does not matter if you bomb the enemy's innocent women and children, so long as it maims the enemy's capability to retaliate, then your act is defensible for the greater good of your country. In communitarianism, however, individual life and individual contribution to the community are both important. As long as you continue laying eggs willingly and happily, you contribute to the common good of the community as a dependable and responsible hen, I mean, individual. (Danny Castillones Sillada, Inusara Journal, October 8, 2016).

How to appreciate the beauty of a woman: First, close your eyes without any lust or sexual desire, then feel the softness of her body, her delicate hands, her eyes, her lips, her breasts, her thighs. Second, soak your soul in her mind, feel the vortex of her inner needs and desires, listen to the rhythmic sound of her joys and sorrows, and tiptoe on the matrix of her dreams and longings. As soon as you imagine and understand these nuances in a woman, you'll immediately feel a strange sensation of warmth and nurturing presence, almost maternal, like a gentle breeze in the sea or the fragrance of flowers in the forest. You see, her beauty does not reside in her physical appearance - whoever she is and no matter how she looks - because she, the woman herself, is the definition, the embodiment, and the birthplace of beauty. (Danny Castillones Sillada, The Phenomenology of Beauty in a Woman)

The sublime state of peace of mind, despite our woundedness, emits a sense of comfort and gentleness to others, an inner charm that calms an anxious soul amid our benevolent presence, like a wild deer that drinks water from the serenity of the forest, and then leaves as quietly as it arrives fully quenched from its thirst. ( - Danny Castillones Sillada, The Quietude of the Soul)

There is no middle ground for moral choice and political decision because by being on a safe side, any indecisive act poses a moral hazard to the individual freedom and integrity of a democratic society.

~ Danny Castillones Sillada, The Postmodern Filipino Prince: The Moral Hazard of Political Indecision

Perhaps the most humiliating condition in life is when you no longer feel that there's still someone or something worth waiting for and that, worst of all, no one or nothing's waiting there for you in the twilight of your existence. (Danny Castillones Sillada, On Losing Faith)

War is noble and heroic if a nation is defending its sovereignty from the invaders. War is disgraceful and unheroic, a despicable crime against humanity, if a dominant nation is invading another country and killing its innocent men, women, and children. The war, in the 21st century, is ostensibly the methodic game theory in offensive action that has no ethical and moral ground, whatsoever, but to intentionally kill and divide people, and, consequently, paralyze the political and economic stability of another nation. ( - Danny Castillones Sillada, The Existentialist Homo Technologicus)

Even if the romantic concept of love loses its splendor and meaning, I'll continue to love by engaging in a Sisyphean task of finding its sublime beauty from interminable meaninglessness, madness, and misery of loving.

The beauty of nature can only have its value and meaning if it nurtures and inspires the dwellers to live and create history, arts, culture, and language so that its spirit can be told from one generation to the next. The nature is the medium from which the dwellers build their historical lives (structure), and the interconnecting story between nature and people is the final historical form, that is, as a complete historical narrative between the dwelling and the dwellers within a particular time and space in the history of our planet. (Danny Castillones Sillada, Tomorrow's conservationists what we can learn from Danjugan Island)

Occasionally, I would visit the graveyard in my heart, knowing that some people that were buried there are still alive. I could not help wondering: How many people buried me, too, in the graveyard of their hearts?
(Danny Castillones Sillada, Those Sweet and Painful Memories, Inusara Journal)

I'd like to think and believe that a billion light years away, into the distant filaments of galaxies, a place like this one exists, where all dreams come true, older people don't suffer from the misery of dying, and children are relieved from the veil of innocence and ignorance. Although I still want to feel the pain of being human, I'd like to live there, correct all my shortcomings, reconcile and profess my deepest affection to my loved ones, and ask for forgiveness to the people whom I've hurt or ignored in this life. (Danny Castillones Sillada, Out There, Inusara Journal)