Philosopher for Hire

The Road need not be walked alone

The Road need not be walked alone

Hire Your Own Philosopher

Hire Your Own Philosopher

Find guidance in the Way

Find guidance in the Way

Welcome friends and fellow philosophers.
I am MarQuese Daisean Liddle, MFA in Creative Writing, author and editor here at Wild Isle Literature, and a lover of wisdom.

Close-up black and white photo of a man with a bald head and intense expression, outdoors with blurred landscape background.

If you’re reading this, you too may be one of Truth’s few true admirers. If so, then you know that a life of unrequited love for Truth is unbearable; yet you cannot give up the pursuit. If this describes you, someone lost and looking for his proper Path that puts him in accord with himself, society, and the world, then perhaps I can help to connect you to wiser minds of the past who can guide you through life’s winding journey.

My philosophical background is one of self study. What began as a decade of training in traditional Chinese martial arts become a study of Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism, Zen, Stoicism, Jungian Analytics, and Nietzschean philosophizing with a hammer. My learning did not, has not, and will never end there. As I continue to read, write, live, learn, and grow, I hope to share what I discover on the adventure of my own life with you who dare to embark on your own journeys. Amor Fati.

A close-up of an older Asian man dressed as an ancient Chinese emperor or scholar, with a long beard, traditional robes, and a serious expression. The background features traditional Chinese lanterns and architecture.

Confucius

The way of truth is like a great road. It is not difficult to know it. The evil is only that men will not seek it. Go home and search for it, and you will have an abundance of teachers.

Close-up of a confident middle-aged man in a suit, inside a luxurious, high-ceilinged library with ornate woodwork and multiple levels filled with books, illuminated by mansion-like lighting.

Jordan B Peterson

Interest is a spirit beckoning from the unknown, a spirit calling from outside the "walls" of society. Pursuit of individual interest means hearkening to this spirit's call, journeying outside the protective walls of childhood and adolescent group identification, and returning to rejuvenate society.

A man with a shaved head and goatee wearing traditional Asian clothing inside a dimly lit ornate wooden room with hanging lanterns.

Takuan Soho

All existents are ultimately mental constructions. Therefore having desires is not the Way, yet abandoning them to be desireless is not the Way either. The point is that the Way is nothing in particular; it is Just so.

A digital painting of a man with a thick mustache and wavy hair, dressed in a black suit with a white shirt and black tie, against a dark background with glowing sparks or embers.

Friedrich Nietzsche

But in the very fact that the ascetic ideal has meant so much to Man, there is expressed the fundamental feature of Man’s will, his horror vacui: he needs a goal—and he will rather desire oblivion than not desire at all.—Am I not understood?—Have I been understood?

Close-up image of a middle-aged Asian man with long, gray hair, wearing traditional dark robes with intricate gold and red accents, and a serious expression. Dark background with floating sparks or embers.

Miyamoto, Musashi

Accept everything just the way it is.

Think lightly of yourself and deeply of the world.

Do not regret what you have done.

Do not fear death.

Respect Buddha and the Gods without counting on their help.

Never stray from The Way.

Close-up of a detailed statue or bust of an older man with curly gray hair and beard, wearing ornate clothing with gold accents.

epictetus

‘Tell us your secrets.’

‘I refuse, as this is up to me.’

‘I will put you in chains.’

‘What’s that you say, friend? It’s only my leg you will chain, not even God can conquer my will.’

‘I will throw you in prison.’

‘Correction—it is my body you will throw there.’

‘I will behead you.’

‘Well, when did I ever claim that mine was the only neck that couldn’t be severed?’

A detailed bronze or brass statue of Buddha with intricate circular patterns in the background.

Siddhartha Gautama

As a sweet-smelling lotus
Pleasing to the heart
May grow in a heap of rubbish
Discarded along the highway,
So a disciple of the Fully Awakened One
Shines with wisdom
Amid the rubbish heap
Of blind, common people.

An elderly man with white hair, glasses, and a serious expression, dressed in a suit and tie, against a cosmic, celestial background with intricate gold patterns, planets, and stars.

Carl Jung

If we call everything that God does or allowed "good," then evil is good too, and "good" becomes meaningless. But suffering, whether it be Christ's passion or the suffering of the world, remains the same as before. Stupidity, sin, sickness, old age, and death continue to form the fark foil that sets off the joyful splendour of life.

Close-up of an older Asian man with gray hair, a goatee, and wearing traditional clothing with gold embroidery, indoors with warm lighting.

Zhuangzi

Confucius went along for sixty years and transformed sixty times. What he first considered right he later considered wrong. He could never know if what he presently considered right were not fifty-nine times wrong.

A man dressed as a historical Chinese emperor or general, wearing an ornate black and gold military uniform and a traditional hat with gold decorations and a red jewel. The background is dark with a glowing halo effect behind his head.

Sun Tzu

If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.

If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat.

If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.

A bald Asian man wearing traditional monk robes standing inside a temple with ornate golden decorations and red lanterns, illuminated by soft light.

Yamamoto, Tsunetomo

One must edge forward like the inchworm, bit by bit. The gods and Buddhas, too, first started with a vow.

Or…

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