its the day after my first braces adjustment in the US. i woke up and my teeth starting hurting so much, i couldn't get out of bed. it feels like all my teeth were getting ripped apart, all at once.

visited the argonaut book shop today. discovered this book which contained the inscription carved into the memorial church's sandstone walls at stanford.

i also found a chinatown guide book from 1960 that was sold for 20 bucks. i negotiated for a lower price but they wouldn't budge. so in efforts to be frugal, i stood there for 30 minutes to read the entire thing and took pictures of interesting parts of the book. it was a fun book that included recipes, chinese customs, a tutorial for chopsticks, a chinese language learning guide, and so much more. the history of chinatown is a rabbit hole i want to dive deeper if given the time. i'll come back again for it when i have a job next year. hopefully it'll still be there.

argonauts were adventurers who went to california in search of gold soon after its discovery in 1848. in 2024, people are moving to SF in search the AI "gold pot", the next billion dollar idea, creating systems that soon will one day exceed human intelligence.

on ambition

A noble ambition is among the most helpful influences of student life, and the higher this ambition is, the better. No man can work well unless he can speak as the Great Master did of the joy set before Him.

on prayer

God knows what His Children want before they ask, but it proves their faith in Him to pray for what they want.

on religion

Religion is intended as a comfort, a solace, a necessity to the soul’s welfare; and whichever form of religion furnishes the greatest comfort, the greatest solace it is the form which should be adopted be its name what it will.

The best form of religion is, trust in God and a firm belief in the immortality of the soul, life everlasting.

on love

We speak of love, but what do we know about it, unless we see the power of love manifested; unless we are given the power to bestow, and a willing heart to bestow it upon, and within humanity. We say God is love, but if we do not feel the power of His love, we do not know anything about it. To be loved by others makes the power of love within our hearts grow.

on purpose

Man, like every other individuality, has an object and a purpose to fulfill; and, when he comprehends this, he will think too much of himself to stoop on any material action that shall bring him down from the highest position on the throne of his nature.

on wisdom

Knowledge is intelligence and its impress comes upon the mind. Wisdom is the desire of the heart prompted by God’s highest and most Divine nature and comprises all knowledge. Wisdom is the highest spiritual intelligence, while the natural man, through knowledge, can know nothing of wisdom.

on suffering

It is by suffering that God has most nearly approached to man; it is by suffering that man draws most nearly to God.

on burdens

There are but few on earth free from cares, none but carry burdens of sorrow, and if all were asked to make a package of their troubles, and throw this package on a common pile, and then were asked to go and choose a package which they were willing to bear, all would select their own package again.

Your heartaches may be great, burdens heavy, but look about you, and with whom would you change?

on gratitude

God is all in all; and, i we cannot appreciate and worship Him in all things, we only worship part of God.

on good deeds

The test of a Christian life lies in deeds and actions, not in words, a true follower of truth and Godliness, not a follower of the impressions of the flesh nor the impress of the intellect alone, but endeavoring to let the heart be touched with the Divine principle of God’s truth; and that alone makes Christians. The instinct given to all of God’s children to seek happiness is a proof that happiness is a reality and within the reach of all.

If we do good deeds to others and try to help them to live happier and better lives by being kind to them, and teaching them of the God germ within themselves, we in that way sow the seed, and God in His own way and time will make it grow. There is such a thing as mistaking Christian privileges for Christian attainments, and of imagining that we are what we ought to be simply because we know it. There is something in all hearts that can be reached, – some chord that will give forth sweet music if we only have the skill to touch it.