Another example of Daoist tendancies in western thought

"The goal of life is living in agreement with nature."
Zeno, from Diogenes Laertius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers
Greek philosopher (335 BC - 264 BC)

quote from Saint John Climacus

"He whose will and desire in conversation is to establish his own opinion, even though what he says is true, should recognize that he is sick with the devil's disease. And if he behaves like this only in conversation with his equals, then perhaps the rebuke of his superiors may heal him. But if he acts in this way even with those who are greater and wiser than he, then his malady is humanly incurable."

from The Ladder of Divine Ascent by Saint John Climacus Step 4, paragraph 48.

Soviet Canuckistan? This guy has a problem with Canada

Pat Buchanan

(from Wikipedia) "Soviet Canuckistan is an unflattering epithet for Canada, used by Pat Buchanan on October 31, 2002, on his television show on MSNBC in which he denounced Canadians as anti-American and the country as a haven for terrorists.

He was reacting to a warning that had been issued by the Canadian Ministry of Foreign Affairs that Canadians born in Iraq, Iran, Libya, Sudan, and Syria should be cautious travelling to the United States because of a US law demanding photos and fingerprints of Canadian citizens born in those countries and visiting the US, and because US authorities had deported Maher Arar, a Canadian citizen of Syrian descent, to Syria some weeks previous while he was changing planes in New York City.

Following Buchanan's comment, many Canadians proudly adopted Soviet Canuckistan as an ironic, humorous self-reference.

Buchanan has a history of unflattering references to Canada, having said in 1990 that if Canada were to break apart due to the failure of the Meech Lake constitutional accord, "America would pick up the pieces."

He said two years after that that "for most Americans, Canada is sort of like a case of latent arthritis. We really don't think about it, unless it acts up."