Forty lines
A pen name I've used for years. It's where the domain came from rather than the other way round.
Line 1. In a world painted with shades of grey, find the beauty in the nuanced colors that lie between black and white.
Line 2. Most people categorize others as a 0 or a 1, but only a few are able to understand and embrace the infinite number of entities between them.
Line 3. The tale always favors the one who holds the pen — history bows to the voice that records it.
Line 4. A man who cannot choose between black and white is always selfish.
Line 5. True strength quietly endures in patience, love relinquishes the need to conquer, and in the gentle order of the heart, we find that those we cherish become our compass rather than our conquest.
Line 6. Concealing emotions to appear composed may steal your peace and leave you exposed.
Line 7. Proximity breeds familiarity, and familiarity breeds contempt — sowing the seeds for resentment’s ascent.
Line 8. Peaking early is a fleeting crown; it dazzles briefly but repels diffusely.
Line 9. Religion ensnares women with the illusion of divine proximity while ruthlessly denying true equality.
Line 10. Unspoken depths within the soul resonate profoundly, as hidden scars etch the essence of resilience, shaping a strength that transcends perception.
Line 11. When authority blinds empathy, the less privileged bear the entire weight of the seesaw. True power blooms not in cruel command, but in the gentle touch that lifts a hand.
Line 12. Being transparent is a step beyond being honest. While honesty seeks to build trust, transparency would have already built it.
Line 13. Overthinking builds walls where human connection seeks to build bridges. In the calm of our minds, we often complicate the simple, while the heart yearns for the honest and unspoken moments that truly unite us.
Line 14. Simplicity is not the absence of complexity but the mastery of it, where refinement emerges from reduction.
Line 15. Empathy is not about walking in someone else’s shoes, but about recognizing the pain beneath their steps and offering a hand, not just to understand, but to uplift. Be empathetic. Be Humane.
Line 16. Judging others by their worst inclinations while expecting to be judged by our best intentions is the hypocrisy that prevents humankind from succeeding.
Line 17. Solitude with the fear of being forgotten is the same as being lonely, but not the same as being alone.
Line 18. You’ll cease to dwell on others’ views when you discover how seldom you’re in their thoughts.
Line 19. Institutional dishonesty overrides individual honesty. A litre of water cannot dilute the ocean.
Line 20. Awkwardness in a small conversation is better than a resentful long relation.
Line 21. Acquisition of knowledge has to be a moral exercise but not amoral.
Line 22. In order to see a better world, be the best version of yourself first.
Line 23. We ought to chase pleasure — it’s a measure we embrace without measure.
Line 24. Emotions cannot be applied to your reasoning unless you reason through your emotions.
Line 25. In a world that prioritizes doing things rightly, the importance of doing the right things is often overlooked.
Line 26. The world is a stage where a man who believes in randomness fights with a random man.
Line 27. A situation with known unknowns is better than a situation with unknown knowns.
Line 28. We are not what we do but what we repeatedly do.
Line 29. A good man is called so when he does good things but not when he stops doing bad things.
Line 30. A surplus in a relationship will always have a deficit on the other side. Relationships with such imbalances won’t last long both in the economic world and in the emotional world.
Line 31. The bigger you become, the more you ignore the small things, both economically and emotionally.
Line 32. A man who cannot accept the absolute truth starts imposing his perceptions on others.
Line 33. Exceptions are a result of massive generalisations. In the trap of becoming exceptional, don’t forget you are a general human.
Line 34. The more you think you are changing, the more you stay the same.
Line 35. Being moral doesn’t make you immortal, but it makes you feel immortal.
Line 36. Judging someone based on your morals is as good as self-praise.
Line 37. Being kind to others, knowing that they are not going to be as kind as you, makes you the kindest.
Line 38. People are moral not because of ethics, but because of fear.
Line 39. Good or bad is a dynamic and ever-evolving concept, susceptible to shifts in societal values.
Line 40. Men, their natures not altering overnight, seek in every new order a continuance of the old.
Reproduced as written, including the bits I'd phrase differently now and the grammar I've decided to leave alone.