Ffolkes,
“Fall back! Quickly! Don’t think, just go!”…rushing through the dark, breathless and bone-deep in fear. Whispers followed, hissing “run! run!. The swollen moon above gives only shadows in the dark underworld beneath the trees, and each step is driven by the flickers of fear still running along his nerves. Branches whipping the face, panting with the sheer force of adrenaline, he bursts into a clearing. Ahead, outlined in stark, bright light from lamps hung among them trees, he sees what he most fears, the obstacle to his most cherished dreams….. his editor had arrived, and the shit would now hit the fan……
So, what? You expected bagels and lox, maybe?….read on, you’ll get over it…..
___________________________________
When I ‘m not thank’d at all, I ‘m thank’d enough;
I ‘ve done my duty, and I ‘ve done no more.
— Henry Fielding (1707-1754) — Tom Thumb the Great, Act i, Sc. 3
Well said, Tom! Too often in today’s society do we see men who don’t understand this about duty. Hell, these days one can barely find a man who knows what duty is, much less how to fulfill it honorably. Duty is not something that anyone else can tell you, or give you, or make you see or do. Duty is a choice.
It is a man’s most honorable choice, and once assumed, may not be put down until finished. It is, in the final analysis, what determines the character of a man. There is no reward for doing one’s duty, other than self-respect, and none should be expected. Thanks are also not necessary, for the honor in the act lies not in how other people see it, but in how the man himself regards it.
Many confuse duty with the responsibilities given to them by others; they are not the same. A man may have other responsibilities, but those were not of choice, and thus are not duty. Duty is ONLY chosen, never assigned, and it can’t be given away. The only honorable path is to fulfill it oneself, as is expected when it is assumed. It is the true path to leading a life with honor, and for a “real man”, honor is everything. Death is preferable to loss of honor…..and that is what is missing today in a lot of men……
___________________________________
“The major problem–ONE of the major problems, for there are several–one of the many major problems with governing people is that of whom you get to do it; or rather of who manages to get people to let them do it to them.” To summarize: it is a well known fact that those people who must WANT to rule people are, ipso facto, those least suited to do it. To summarize the summary: anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job. To summarize the summary of the summary: people are a problem.” — Douglas Adams, “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy”
Couldn’t have said it better myself….. but, having many times covered the same theme, with perhaps less humorous expression, I can recognize when it is well spoken….People are definitely a problem. And the people who want power over others are the biggest problem we have as humans. It is this single characteristic of a particular segment of humanity that has kept us from progressing to a fully civilized existence. As long as there are people who insist on everything being done “their way”, humanity will never reach its true potential.
In spite of the assurances from the beloved ruling class that what they do is for our benefit, this intransigence is keeping us from progressing beyond the larval stage. In a truly enlightened society, no man is greater or lesser than any other; tell me if you can think of one society, either now, or in the past, in which this was true. I’ll tell you right off, though, you won’t be able to think of any, because it has yet to happen on this planet. And it never will, unless we humans rein in those bozos, and send them off to rehabilitation….
___________________________________
“You who’ve lost the concept of a right, you who swing in impotent evasiveness between the claim that rights are a gift of God, a supernatural gift to be taken on faith, or the claim that rights are a gift of society, to be broken at its arbitrary whim — the source of man’s rights is not divine law or congressional law, but the law of identity. A is A — and Man is Man. Rights are conditions of existence required by man’s nature for his proper survival.If man is to live on earth, it is right for him to use his mind, it is right to act on his own free judgment, it is right to work for his values and to keep the product of his work. If life on earth is his purpose, he has a right to live as a rational being: nature forbids him the irrational. Any group, any gang, any nation that attempts to negate man’s rights, is wrong, which means: is evil, which means: is anti-life.” — John Galt
A very well-thought out and scripted statement from Mr. Galt; on first examination, it would be difficult to find any flaws in his logic. A second examination upholds that judgment, as well. Which leads me to conclude that every politician alive today is evil. If any of them aren’t, well, they never speak up, and silence is the strongest tool of those who prey upon the rest of society. What’s that old saw, “there is no need for evil to act, as long as men are silent in the face of oppression”? Something like that….or, “all that is required for evil to win is for good men to be silent”. That’s a little better said, though I forget who said it.
The point is, we are, as a society, moving rapidly toward self-extinction (and if you disagree, please, please offer me some evidence that what I’m saying isn’t so! Just one little piece of verifiable fact would suffice to create a discussion). If we don’t stop these fools, they’re going to drag the rest of us down with them into the abyss……
___________________________________
A monk sat with his three students. He took out his fan and placed it in front of him, saying, “Without calling it a fan, tell me what this is.”
The first said, “You couldn’t call it a slop-bucket.” The master poked him with his stick.
The second picked up the fan and fanned himself. He too was rewarded with the stick.
The third opened the fan, laid a piece of cake on it, and served it to his teacher. The teacher said, “Eat your cake.”
The question to consider here is, what did the student tell the teacher about the fan? How would you describe his answer in words? My answer to both questions would be: The fan is, first of all, an opportunity to be of use. It is, as we are, best used in service to others. If you can think of another way to say it, feel free to submit your thoughts, and we can discuss them in a future Pearl……
___________________________________
“Speak, thou vast and venerable head,” muttered Ahab, “which, though ungarnished with a beard, yet here and there lookest hoary with mosses; speak, mighty head, and tell us the secret thing that is in thee. Of all divers, thou has dived the deepest. That head upon which the upper sun now gleams has moved amid the world’s foundations. Where unrecorded names and navies rust, and untold hopes and anchors rot; where in her murderous hold this frigate earth is ballasted with bones of millions of the drowned; there, in that awful water-land, there was thy most familiar home. Thou hast been where bell or diver never went; has slept by many a sailer’s side, where sleepless mothers would give their lives to lay them down. Thou saw’st the locked lovers when leaping from their flaming ship; heart to heart they sank beneath the exulting wave; true to each other, when heaven seemed false to them. Thou saw’st the murdered mate when tossed by pirates from the midnight deck; for hours he fell into the deeper midnight of the insatiate maw; and his murderers still sailed on unharmed–while swift lightnings shivered the neighboring ship that would have borne a righteous husband to outstretched, longing arms. O head! thou has seen enough to split the planets and make an infidel of Abraham, and not one syllable is thine!” — Herman Melville (1819-1891), “Moby Dick”
Now I’m glad I never read this book…..I gave up on reading this paragraph about half-way through, and have no desire whatsoever to subject myself any further to such drivel. It reminds me of The Rhyme of The Ancient Mariner, which, as we all know, was written under the influence of opiates….. I suppose people thought this was good because they couldn’t understand it, and were too embarrassed to say so, thinking they would appear foolish and illiterate. Naw…..it’s just crap, and I don’t care who thinks otherwise…..
Iago. She was a wight, if ever such wight were,–
Des. To do what?
Iago. To suckle fools and chronicle small beer.
Des. O most lame and impotent conclusion!
— William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Othello — Act ii, Sc. 1
Sorry folks. Ditto….. not everything Shakespeare wrote was good….and this is particularly bad….
___________________________________
Another day, another 42 cents…..this treatise won’t be available on my site until after 8 PM tonight. I am participating in the internet-wide protest against SOPA, the internet piracy bill now before Congress. Please use one of the available methods to add your voice to others in protest. If this bill passes, virtually half or more of all websites would be taken down, just because someone else didn’t approve of it. Censorship at its worst. And after you’ve registered your disapproval, please come on back and enjoy today’s Pearl….. y’all take care out there…..
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes
I just sits.
gigoid
Kowabunga!
gigoid 