Christo J Balouris

Orthodox Christian trying to finish the race. Husband, father and grandfather; Recovering attorney; Byzantine chanter; Steelers fan. MAGA

[Georgios Lidis @georgioslidis]

Many scholars worldwide say that φιλότιμο (philotimo) is one of the hardest words to translate fully into another language

The word comes from:

φίλος (philos) = friend, love
τιμή (timí) = honor, dignity, respect

But philotimo is much more than “love of honor.”

It describes a way of living that combines:
Honor
Duty
Integrity
Self-respect
Generosity
Humility
Hospitality
Doing what is right even when nobody is watching
Helping others without expecting anything in return

A person with philotimo feels a moral responsibility to act nobly because it is the right thing to do, not because they will be rewarded.

Many Greeks might explain it like this:
“Philotimo is doing more than your duty because your conscience tells you to.”
Or:
“Philotimo is when another person’s need becomes your own responsibility.”

The Greek Orthodox Saint Paisios of Mount Athos often described philotimo as a form of selfless love, sacrifice, gratitude, and noble conduct toward God and other people.

There are similar ideas in other cultures such as honor, chivalry, duty, or the Japanese concept of giri but none captures the entire meaning of philotimo exactly.

That’s why many scholars consider it uniquely Greek in its full cultural and historical sense.

A popular Greek saying is:

«Το φιλότιμο δεν αγοράζεται ούτε διδάσκεται.»

“Philotimo can neither be bought nor taught.”

It is something revealed through a person’s character and actions.

If I had to put it in a single sentence in my understanding as a Greek is that

“Philotimo is the inner moral compass that inspires a person to act with honor, dignity, generosity, and selfless love, even when there is no personal benefits”

Philotimo is one of the most beautiful concepts in Greek culture, honor, humility, sacrifice, generosity, and love for others all woven into a single word.

And many people associate its modern spiritual expression with Saint Paisios of Mount Athos, who often spoke about living with a noble heart and helping others quietly, without seeking recognition.

May the words of Saint Paisios inspire us:

“The greatest joy is to help someone and not be known.”

Καλή δύναμη και ο Θεός μαζί σας.
(Strength to you, and may God be with you.)

☦️ 🇬🇷 Φιλότιμο — the heart of a Greek soul.

[Michelle Maxwell ™ @MichelleMaxwell]

It is OUR money!!

Thank you Mr Secretary
Concerning Social Security payments, my contributions were made for over 40 years on every salary I received. Those jobs may not have always been the work I wanted to be doing at the time, BUT I always had a job. The Social Security check is now (or soon will be) referred to as a "Federal Benefit Payment?" I'll be part of the one percent to forward this.
I am forwarding it because it touches a nerve in me, and I hope it will in you. Please keep passing it on until everyone in our country has read it. The government is now referring to our Social Security checks as a "Federal Benefit Payment." This isn't a benefit. It is our money paid out of our earned income! Not only did we all contribute to Social Security but our employers did too. It totaled 15% of our income before taxes.
Congress took our money and used it elsewhere. They forgot (oh yes, they knew) that it was OUR money they were taking. They didn't have a referendum to ask us if we wanted to lend the money to them. And they didn't pay interest on the debt they assumed. And recently they've told us that the money won't support us for very much longer. And now, to add insult to injury, they're calling it a "benefit", as if we never worked to earn every penny of it.
Just because they borrowed the money doesn't mean that our investments were a charity!
Let's take a stand. We have earned our right to Social Security and Medicare. Demand that our legislators bring some sense into our government.
Find a way to keep Social Security and Medicare going for the sake of that 92% of our population who need it. Then call it what it is: Our Earned Retirement Income.

Please, for the sake of our country, share this message. It's important!!!

[Darth Powell @VladTheInflator]

Hey @grok, why don't schools teach that only 1.3% of Americans owned slaves at the peak of slavery, only 4% of transatlantic slavery made it to the USA, 100% of African slaves were enslaved by Africans and over 1 million White Europeans were enslaved in Africa and the Middle East.

[Christo J Balouris @CJBalouris]

@miles_commodore I don’t eat it anymore, but sugar crisp has to be my all-time favorite

[Kat @orthodoxkat]

Every day you wake up is a sign of God's mercy and forgiveness for all your sins. Don't beat yourself up over what you've done wrong. Just repent and do your best to live a Christian life

[جمعیت جمهوری خواهان حامی شاهزاده رضا پهلوی @prisp2023]

🔴بیانیه جمعیت جمهوری‌خواهان حامی شاهزاده رضا پهلوی پیرامون تسلیم رژیم جمهوری اسلامی به ترامپ

——————————————————

🚨 رژیم تسلیم ترامپ شد؛ اکنون نوبت تسلیم رژیم به ارادهٔ ملت خشمگین ایران است❗️

حالا که رژیم حاضر شده تا برای بقا، در برابر ترامپ زانو بزند و از اورانیوم، تنگه، نیابتی‌ها و شعارهای ۴۷ ساله‌اش عقب‌نشینی کند، پس روشن است که در مواجهه با ارادهٔ ملت خشمگین ایران، امکان تسلیم رژیم به خواستهٔ ملت نیز ممکن است.

اکنون، بزرگ‌ترین تلاش و دروغ رژیم جمهوری جانیان و وحوش اسلامی اینست که علیرغم تسلیم به ترامپ، همچنان در‌ چشم ملت، خود را پیروز ماجرا و شکست‌ناپذیر جلوه دهد.

اما امروز رژیمی که ۴۷ سال «م.گ بر آمریکا» می‌گفت، برای حفظ بقای ننگین خود حاضر شده تا تسلیم آمریکا شود و مهم‌ترین اهرم‌های قدرت و مشروعیت ادعایی‌اش را تسلیم کند.

اما تسلیم به ترامپ پایان مسئله نیست؛ و باید که آغاز حساب‌کشی ملت خشمگین ایران از رژیمی شود که قتل‌عام دیماه را رقم زد.

اکنون شرطی که باید به این تسلیم‌نامه اضافه شود، اینست:

تسلیم بی‌قیدوشرط رژیم به ارادهٔ ملت خشمگین ایران و انتقال قدرت به نماینده اکثریت ملت ایران و رهبر انقلاب ملی شیروخورشید، شاهزاده رضا پهلوی.

پاینده ایران

جمعیت جمهوری‌خواهان حامی شاهزاده رضا پهلوی

@PahlaviReza
@PahlaviComms
@KayhanLondon
@IranIntlbrk
@IranIntl

[TONY™ @TONYxTWO]

The National Anthem at the White House was absolutely epic!!! 🇺🇸🔥

Wait for the flyover!!!!

[Christo J Balouris @CJBalouris]

@Alighazizade Iran will soon see a double funeral. Each casket will be the size of a shoebox.

[Echoes of Hellas 🇬🇷 @HellenicEchoes]

Turkish identity is such a weird phenomenon.
Bunch of Greeks/Armenians who were brainwashed to think they are Muslim Mongols and hate themselves.

[Patrick Hedger @pat_hedger]

Just want to thank all the international World Cup fans for coming and lifting all of us Americans up with your absolutely charming encounters with our big weird country. We needed it. Best 250th birthday gift ever.

[NOBUNAGA🇯🇵🏯_夏樹蒼依 @japan_nobunaga]

USA. A Mexican restaurant. We had not yet ordered anything, and the food was already arriving.

Chips. Salsa. Unrequested. Free.

I stopped the waiter. "We have not earned these."

"They just come with the table, man."

They come with the TABLE. In my land, hospitality is a debt. Every gift creates an obligation, weighed carefully, returned in the proper season with interest of feeling. Here, the gift arrives before you have even proven you can pay for dinner.

This is not an appetizer. This is a declaration: we trust you. Eat.

I ate with the gravity the moment deserved. And then — I must report this calmly — the basket emptied, and a new one appeared.

"Did we…?"

"Refill," the waiter said. "It's bottomless."

Bottomless. They have wells of salsa. The supply lines of this nation are beyond anything my ancestors imagined.

My friend warned me. "Don't fill up on chips, dude."

Too late. I had accepted three baskets. Honor demanded each one be finished — an unfinished gift is an insult. By the time my actual food arrived, I was a ruined man.

I was not hungry. I was not comfortable. I had been defeated by a courtesy.

Generosity that arrives before the request cannot be repaid. It can only be survived.

I know the rule now. I have made my peace with the basket. One basket. Two at the most.

Who am I deceiving. There is no number of baskets I would refuse. The trust of a nation is in that salsa, and I intend to honor all of it.

[The Babylon Bee @TheBabylonBee]

Democrats Criticize Trump For Holding MMA Match On The Hallowed Ground Where Biden Hosted Topless Trannies

[Juanita Broaddrick @atensnut]

STFU and SIT DOWN.

You create NOTHING, you build NOTHING and you employ NO ONE!!!

You’ve lived off taxpayers for decades. You’re the problem, Pocahontas…. Not Elon!!!

[Christo J Balouris @CJBalouris]

@Barkley_Tap Dan Marino

[Christo J Balouris @CJBalouris]

@miles_commodore Miles, I love your stuff, but I’m blind and these posts that just show a picture of an old TV show our problem for me. How about just a quick tagline with the name of the show as well? Thanks in advance.

[Ictinus ®️ @ictinus_x]

⚠️The problem in Turkey isn’t Erdogan. It’s Turkey.

For decades, it has been shaped by a blend of neo-Ottoman ambition, and Islamist ideology-accompanied by revisionist rhetoric, military posturing and territorial claims against its neighbours.

This is a NATO member that threatens fellow allies, arms Islamist groups across the region, weaponizes migration for political leverage, and routinely holds its partners hostage for concessions.

Turkey is not merely a difficult ally. It is a security threat to the entire region.
❌The longer the West pretends not to notice, the higher the price.

[Christo J Balouris @CJBalouris]

@Ghostofcynthia I don’t know about Texas, but many states have son of Sam laws. These laws provide that if a convicted criminal accumulates money after their conviction, the victim’s family is entitled to reach out and take it.

[Christo J Balouris @CJBalouris]

@realpeteyb123 Belated happy birthday, young brother! Χρόνια σου πολλά!

[Wesley Hunt @WesleyHuntTX]

Hey Jasmine…

Black pilot here.

I think you missed the plot.
Then again, that’s becoming a pattern.

I graduated from West Point.
I went through Army flight school.
I learned to fly the AH-64 Apache.
I deployed to combat and flew 55 combat missions over Baghdad.

Nobody handed me a cockpit because of my skin color.

Nobody lowered the standards for me.

Nobody looked at me and said, “Let’s check a diversity box.”

That’s what people like you don’t seem to understand.

Suggesting that Black pilots, Black engineers, Black doctors, or Black leaders need special preferences to succeed is not empowering, it’s insulting.

I didn’t want a different standard.
I wanted the same standard.

And when you’re flying into combat, the American people don’t care what race the pilot is.

They care whether the pilot is qualified.

Merit isn’t racist.
Excellence isn’t discriminatory.

And reducing every achievement to skin color says far more about your worldview than it does about mine.

[Christo J Balouris @CJBalouris]

@1True_American_ Try using audio description sometime I think you’ll like that as well