Customization

Before executing, check for user customizations at: ~/.claude/LIFEOS/USER/CUSTOMIZATIONS/SKILLS/Aphorisms/

If this directory exists, load and apply any PREFERENCES.md, configurations, or resources found there. These override default behavior. If the directory does not exist, proceed with skill defaults.

🚨 MANDATORY: Voice Notification (REQUIRED BEFORE ANY ACTION)

You MUST send this notification BEFORE doing anything else when this skill is invoked.

1. Send voice notification:

   curl -s -X POST http://localhost:31337/notify \
     -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
     -d '{"message": "Running the WORKFLOWNAME workflow in the Aphorisms skill to ACTION"}' \
     > /dev/null 2>&1 &
   

2. Output text notification:

   Running the **WorkflowName** workflow in the **Aphorisms** skill to ACTION...
   

This is not optional. Execute this curl command immediately upon skill invocation.

Aphorisms

Curated aphorism store with full CRUD. Deliverable: a ranked, non-repeated, attributed quote matched to the content's themes — with a one-line reason per option. Adding parses text + author, assigns themes, records source, and dedupes. Research pulls a thinker's TELOS-aligned quotes and files them by theme with sources.

Workflow Routing

When executing a workflow, output this notification directly:

Running the **WorkflowName** workflow in the **Aphorisms** skill to ACTION...

Workflow	Trigger	File
FindAphorism	Find aphorism, quote for newsletter, match aphorism, suggest quote, aphorism recommendation	Workflows/FindAphorism.md
AddAphorism	Add quote, add aphorism, save quote, new aphorism, store quote	Workflows/AddAphorism.md
ResearchThinker	Research thinker, find quotes from, what did X say, thinker quotes on	Workflows/ResearchThinker.md
SearchAphorisms	Search aphorisms, find quotes on, quotes about, quotes matching, what aphorisms	Workflows/SearchAphorisms.md

Database

Location: ~/.claude/skills/Aphorisms/Database/aphorisms.md

Organized by author, theme, context, and usage history. Per-aphorism metadata: full quote text, author attribution, theme tags, context/background, source reference. Sections: Initial Collection, per-thinker sections, Theme Index, Newsletter Usage History.

Taxonomy (curated state)

Themes: Work Ethic & Excellence · Resilience & Strength · Learning & Education · Stoicism & Control · Risk & Action · Wisdom & Truth.

TELOS-aligned thinkers (wisdom, rationality, truth-seeking, human flourishing):

• Christopher Hitchens — intellectual honesty, skepticism, follow the evidence
• David Deutsch — optimistic epistemology, knowledge creation, explanations over predictions
• Sam Harris — scientific rationality applied to ethics, reason, mindfulness
• Baruch Spinoza — ethics from reason, freedom through understanding, acceptance
• Richard Feynman — curiosity, doubt as a tool, clarity, scientific honesty

Gotchas

• Search by theme, not exact text. The collection is organized by conceptual themes, not keyword matching.
• Always include attribution and source when adding new aphorisms. Unattributed quotes are useless.
• Duplicate detection: Check if the aphorism already exists before adding. Same idea, different wording, still counts as duplicate.

Execution Log

After completing any workflow, append a single JSONL entry:

echo '{"ts":"'$(date -u +%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ)'","skill":"Aphorisms","workflow":"WORKFLOW_USED","input":"8_WORD_SUMMARY","status":"ok|error","duration_s":SECONDS}' >> ~/.claude/LIFEOS/MEMORY/SKILLS/execution.jsonl

Replace WORKFLOW_USED with the workflow executed, 8_WORD_SUMMARY with a brief input description, and SECONDS with approximate wall-clock time. Log status: "error" if the workflow failed.