Sardonic Smiles

To be sane, he held, was either to be sedated by melancholy or activated by hysteria, two responses which were 'always and equally warranted for those of sound insight'. All others were irrational, merely symptoms of imaginations left idle, of memories out of work. And above these mundane responses, the only elevation allowable, the only valid transcendence, was a sardonic one: a bliss that annihilated the universe with jeers of dark joy, a mindful ecstasy. Anything else in the way of 'mysticism' was a sign of deviation or distraction, and a heresy to the obvious. (“The Medusa”)”
― Thomas Ligotti

Providing balance for a seemingly ever-growing motivation and self-help industry, one company came up, around a decade ago, with a book titled "The Art of Demotivation". There were some related products: lithographs, mugs, etc. The following illustrations, with their own captions, are from that company's website Despair Inc - there are other, similar, pictures there, in "demotivational" vein. I picked the 12 below because they whispered to me "zodiac sign keywords" (not Sun signs!) These come from an archived 2007 post by the way, they're good for a shake-out and re-airing in 2014, when a sardonic grin is probably the best we can hope to raise - and better than nothing - bearing in mind current news items.

So.....tongue firmly in cheek, of course!

 ARIES - risk taking

 

 TAURUS - unchanging

 

 GEMINI - communicating

 

 CANCER ~ clinging

 LEO - leading

 

VIRGO - perfectionist

 LIBRA - making peace

 

 SCORPIO - powerful

 

 SAGITTARIUS - optimism

 

 CAPRICORN - money-making

 

 AQUARIUS - inquiring

 

 PISCES - dreaming