Shadow Wrought's Journal: Powerful Quote

We would rather be ruined than changed,
We would rather die in our dread
Than climb the cross of the moment
And let our illusions die.

-- W.H. Auden

Here's another profound quote...

[unlametheweak]

An apple a day keeps the doctor away.
J. T. Stinson

The issue...

[FroMan]

I have an issue with this quote. It attributes intention to someone without necessarily understanding all of the topic.

Consider:

The folks who followed George Bush must support deficit spending since the government ran a deficit each year of his administration.

I could tritely say to anyone who disagrees with that statement is not "carrying the cross of the moment" to preserve their illusions that he was worth following, because it is a fact that every fiscal year during the Bush administration there was a d

Re:

[unlametheweak]

I have an issue with this quote. It attributes intention to someone without necessarily understanding all of the topic.

W.H. Auden was a poet. How do you know what his intentions were? How do you know the topic is George Bush and deficit spending?

Re:

[Shadow Wrought]

I didn't read it that way at all. I read it as a way in which people cling to beliefs without ever examining them, and that they will cling to them even it means their ruin. That they would rather succumb to such things than face the fear of examining themselves and changing accordingly. I don't think it's an external thing at all, I think it is a deeply, deeply personal thing, and that it speaks of people who are either unwilling or afraid to grow.

In my own life I have been re-examining "truths" that

Re:

[unlametheweak]

In my own life I have been re-examining "truths" that I have held for years. Things that I formulated as a teen and then never again re-examined. Some have held up, some have not. So part of my growth and maturity is looking at those thigns and trying to change those that my experience and education have found little, if not any, support for.

Very few have the mental ability to successfully and intelligently re-examine their beliefs and thought processes, much less the insight to come up with that idea.

A good exercise would be to try to empathize with the arguments and ideas and people that you find most disagreeable, and to try and make an honest effort to think of fallacies in your own logic and beliefs. You will find that the people most confident in themselves are also the most stupid and naive. Being smart means taking the Redpill. Bluepill

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[The Fun Guy]

Redpill people don't usually have much of anything but self-respect and a Promethean level of knowledge about the world around them.

Ouch.

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[FroMan]

I doubt that the intent of the author was to necessarily be political. Though I find less and less in life remains outside of politics, which is a sad state in and of itself. My example was overtly political to make my point, which is that it is too easy to inappropriately apply the quote.

Additionally, I find that the author implies that changing position is necessary or even beneficial. While I do re-evaluate issues as I learn more on topics, it is still rare that I change position. But the author impl

Chinese proverb

[nizo]

Do not use a hatchet to remove a fly from your friend's forehead.

Though one of my favorites, if you ignore the source:

What would you do if you knew you could not fail?

Re:

[smittyoneeach]

Another great Chinese bit:

If your neighbor offends you, buy each of his children a drum.

Re:

[Jeremiah Cornelius]

WWJD?

Re:

[smittyoneeach]

Joe [youtube.com]? Give the kids guitars, obviously.
What kind of question was that?