Shall we Pearl?

“The reward of a thing well done, is to have done it.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)

“Art is a moral passion married to entertainment.  Moral passion without entertainment is propaganda, and entertainment without moral passion is television.” — Rita Mae Brown

“A professional politician is a professionally dishonorable man.  In order to get anywhere near high office he has to make so many compromises and submit to so many humiliations that he becomes indistinguishable from a streetwalker.” — H.L. Mencken

“One of the merits of democracy is quite obvious: it is perhaps the most charming form of government ever devised by man.  The reason is not far to seek.  It is based on propositions that are palpably not true — and what is not true, as everyone knows, is always immensely more fascinating and satisfying to the vast majority of men than what is true.” — H. L. Mencken

“Democracy is also a form of worship. It is the worship of Jackals by Jackasses.” — H. L. Mencken

“If you could print all the money you wanted, and steal all the money you wanted, couldn’t you manage to stay out of debt?” — Smart Bee

“Did you hear that the Dutch government gave Quayle 12 rare Rembrandt etchings? He’s already got four of them colored in.” — Random American comedian, 1990

“Nobody’s right if everybody’s wrong.” — Buffalo Springfield

“The penalty for laughing in a courtroom is six months in jail; if it were not for this penalty, the jury would never hear the evidence.” — H. L. Mencken

“Pain and suffering are always inevitable for a large intelligence and a deep heart.  The really great men must, I think, have great sadness on Earth.
— Fedor Dostoevsky

Okay, that’s probably enough for you to get the idea we’re shooting for today…. As a small bonus, allow me to end this section with a perfectly appropriate critical comment from the man who codified most of the Proverbs to be found in the English-speaking world….

Since I don’t have enough like this to construct an entire pearl, we’ll go with a regular style, old-school pearl, with lessons similar to, or a variation of this one…. It’s pretty deep, and can stand up to a lot of discussion; in fact, it has done so, for a very long time…. Let’s pearl, ffolkes….

“A sense of humor keen enough to show a man his own absurdities will keep him from the commission of all sins, or nearly all, save those that are worth committing.” — Samuel Butler

“Life, it turns out, is not a struggle; it’s a wiggle.” — Smart Bee

“Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so.” — Douglas Adams, Last Chance to See

“Grief can take care of itself, but to get the full value of joy you must have somebody to divide it with.” — Mark Twain

“The question is not whether we will die, but how we will live.” — Joan Borysenko

“Forward, as occasion offers. Never look round to see whether any shall note it…. Be satisfied with success in even the smallest matter, and think that even such a result is no trifle.” — Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121-180 AD) — Meditations, ix, 29

“Ordinary riches can be stolen, real riches cannot. In your soul are infinitely precious things that cannot be taken from you.” — Oscar Wilde

“Perhaps I know why it is man alone who laughs: He alone suffers so deeply that he had to invent laughter.” — Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

“A little nonsense now and then, is cherished by the wisest men.” — Willy Wonka, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Hmm…. Given the nature of the beginning, the results of our search seem a bit… off. Off parameters anyway, and, it certainly didn’t exactly follow the line of inquiry suggested by Lao Tzu’s opening remarks, did it? Oh well, I suppose we’ll just have to call it a compendium of lesser known lessons about life, as presented to, and by, gigoid, the dubious…. I picked ’em, after all…. If it comes to that, I DO stand by each one of them; they all have been useful at one time or another in my life, to be sure….

So, there… and, so be it.

gigoid has spoken, as should be expected….

Oh, shush! Ah say, shush, boy!….

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Well, since it’s done, we won’t quibble. Instead, we’ll waffle, and make like a tree….. Yep, I’m outta here. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, if nobody talks me out of it….