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| QUOTATIONS 1341-1379 |
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| 1341. The right and the duty of any decent person to condemn antisemitism does not automatically impose the equal obligation to condone homosexuality, as some of its ideologues are asking us to do. For though both, the Jews and the homosexuals have been persecuted thru most of the known history, the causes of this are nor the same: the Jews are persecuted for the ethnic and religious reasons, the homosexuals - for sexual ones. And while the Jews are no more different from the Italians than The Italians from the Germans, the homosexuals, by threatening the basic biological order of Nature, are fundamentally different from everybody else. Being a Jew is as natural as being an Italian, but being a homosexual puts a man or a woman apart in one crucially important sense from the rest of humanity. For if one accepts that the main purpose of any biological species is perpetuation of its kind, the fact that the homosexuals, for obvious reasons, cannot perpetuate their own, makes them an aberration - they have no independent means of survival, but have to rely on the heterosexual to do it for them. 1342. The first sign of maturity is the acceptance of the admittedly unsettling fact that other people may have different interests, tastes, opinions, etc. than you. The second, is to learn to live with it. 1343. What is good for a marriage is not necessarily good for a child. For a marriage is generally good when husband and wife are more or less similar in their interests, life's philosophy, social behaviour, etc. But the growing child needs choice to form the emerging personality, and to make a choice he/she needs the approval of parent - the most important authority in child's life. Now, the more different the parents are, the more choice a child has, and the more secure and certain he/she will be in that choice. On the other hand, if the parents are essentially the same, a child has to look for a choice elsewhere. But when the choice is made (no one can avoid it) it lacks the approval of parents, and therefore is never certain, which condemns a child to a life of doubt and inner conflict. Thus, paradoxically, a harmonious marriage may be detrimental to a child's psychological self, while a conflicting marriage -a clash of different personalities of father and mother -can be conducive to a healthy development of a child. P.S. The one-parent family is analogous in its detrimental effect on the development of a child's personality for the same reason as a harmonious marriage - it doesn't offer a child a choice.. 1344. One who aspire to be a source of light has to burn. 1345. By the time your average immigrant to America or Canada realises that his/her failure to succeed, despite the enormous efforts and sacrifices made, in a new land is not his/her fault, he/she is too old and too tired to go back where he/she came from. 1346. As far as our general opinions and particular views are concerned when there is no real opposition to them we, nevertheless, conjure it up by erecting the imaginary opponent, the so-called "straw-man", in order , by arguing against him, to reaffirm, mostly to ourselves, the validity and the truth of what we believe in. 1347.Ever heard of a man who've married a woman who is in jail, never mind one who is serving a life sentence? But apparently women do it all the time. According to one report, at the 12 prisons in the Kingston area, there are approximately 10 marriages every month - all new wives are free women, all new husbands are convicted men , two-thirds of whom are serving life sentence. Now, what else proof do we need that women are primarily interested in marriage and not in men they are marrying. And despite the half century of feminism and women's liberation women still put such an enormous value on marriage that some of them are willing to marry when there is hardly any possibility of life together with the intended husband. 1348. Anti-Semites may despise the scheming and calculating mind of a Jewish wheeler-dealer, but what they really hate with a visceral and consummate passion is the all-encompassing, all-penetrating mind of a true Jewish intellectual. 1349. Solitude & Loneliness In this attempt to clarify the distinction between solitude and loneliness I run the risk of being accused of elaborating the obvious. But such is a state of human affairs that the most obvious notions get often misapprehended. The superficial similarity of terms leads easily to confusion about their specific meanings and to disregard of their fundamental differences. Solitude and Loneliness are just such terms, for they often get mistaken one for another because of their seeming proximity. Yet, they connote rather different state of human existence. The first- solitude- refers to a physical situation of being alone, the situation which is either imposed or chosen , and thus can be rectified more or less successfully by the act of will. The second- loneliness - describes the emotional and mental state of feeling abandoned and forsaken, and we are powerless to change our feelings. On the contrary, it is our feelings that influence us, and often against our best judgment. It is clear, therefore, that one can feel lonely in the crowd, and not only of strangers but even when surrounded by friends. On the other hand , solitude not always brings feeling of loneliness. Some people actually prefer being alone most of the times, while most of people long for it some time. Thus to rephrase, not all solitudes produce the feeling of loneliness, and not all feeling of loneliness result from solitude. 1350. It may sound paradoxical, and perhaps it is, but apparently the primary motivation driving adulterers, cheaters, two-timers is not sexual, but something else, some other need, desire, longing, etc. For if it was strictly sex their respective spouses, partners, boy or girl friends could provide them with it, and with much less efforts. 1351. To forestall the potential accusation of discrimination based on sexual orientation the Egyptian section of a museum is planning the permanent display of gay mummies. 1352. The question nowadays is no longer whether God exist or not, but is he or she gay, straight or bisexual. 1353. Having a good esthetical taste is indispensable for an artist. For though in itself it is not sufficient for the production of the great works, the good esthetical taste could prevent an artist from creating the mediocre ones. 1354. Most of ours explanations, ideas, notions and opinions are but the disguised self-justifications, the projection of our personalities on the world around us. 1355. No policy, no ideology, no government, no ruler can benefit or harm everybody. That's why, for example, even the worst tyrants in history always had their admirers and followers, and the kindest and wisest rulers theirs detractors and enemies. To paraphrase - one man's benefactor is another man's oppressor and vice versa. 1356. It is such a pity, such a waste that so many philosophers of the past had spent the enormous amount of intellectual energy trying to reconcile reason and religion., being forced mainly by the extreme pressure of the ostensibly religious societies they were part of, but also by the internal conflict of heart and mind and, of course, as it is always with thinkers, by the hubris of brilliance, by the arrogance of intellect, by the ambition to succeed where everyone had essentially failed. For all such attempts are ultimately doomed to failure, because faith and reason are inherently irreconcilable. 1357. The great books by the great writers are never irrelevant, never dated, never become obsoleta, because the wise men and women who have written them had the gift and the compulsion to see and to describe in everything particular and present the universal and the timeless. 1358. It is hard to recognize in the old wise man the young fool he once was. Hard, but not impossible. For if one learns by making mistakes, then being foolish at the beginning of one's life is almost a prerequisite for eventually becoming wise at the end of it. On the other hand, it is quite possible that the wisdom of the old is only a myth created to maintain their power over the young when they cannot do it any longer by force. Also, it is very comforting to believe that when you've lost your beauty and strength at least you gained something like wisdom. 1359. The smooth transition of power from one political party to another which the developed countries of the industrial West are so proud of and consider it to be the ultimate test of mature democracy is only possible because the change of government has very little to do with the essential changes in the way things run economically, socially, politically and military. For those in position of economical, social, political and military power would make damn sure that, as French say: "The more things change, the more they stay the same." And anything that can drastically alter the direction of the state-ship will meet the stiff resistance and even revolt by the powers that be. Any individual, any group, any party that really threatens the status quo would be destroyed not only politically, but if necessary, physically by the combined efforts of all who would loose in case it happens. Now, as far as the democratic elections are concerned, they are no more than trying different dresses on the same body politic. 1360. Every man is an island, but the island which is connected to others men-islands by so many different bridges - long or short, wide or narrow, high or low, weak or strong... 1361. Call me inconsistent, but I do like fairy tales, as long as they are the realistic ones. 1362. It is difficult to evaluate a philosopher's worth while he is discussing abstract and metaphorical notions - there are so many ambiguities and contradictions inherent in them. It is when the philosopher speaks about the real problems of real life and, moreover, offers his solutions that it becomes absolutely clear whether he is a lunatic or a wise man. 1363. I used to be articulate and had a lot of friends but here I'm an illiterate and lonely immigrant 1364. The fate of an immigrant is to never know whether he is at home or abroad. 1365. Life is a long and arduous journey, don't carry too much baggage around with you - travel lightly. 1366. Yes, the meek shall inherit the earth - by being buried in it. 1367. There is no pleasure in being virtuous, for virtue is but self-denial, the denial of self, the lustful, greedy, ambitious, egotistical, pleasure seeking self. What pleasure is left, if any, is only the intangible one - the proud, often arrogant consciousness of one's strength to do without the real pleasures of life. But for how long? And for what purpose? O, the wings of my passions! Who has nailed you to the cross of decency with the spikes of duty? 1368. The art of being a woman (and this is an art - no questions about it) is an ability to play down, or even hide if possible, the flaws in her body and character, by overemphasizing the most attractive features of both. 1369. The Jews don't have a monopoly on pain and suffering. Nobody does in this world. But they certainly have a legitimate claim to the longest uninterrupted experience of it in the recorded history. 1370. That St. Paul was a self-hating Jew is only a half of the story. In addition to this not so rare among the members of the persecuted and despised minorities trait, he was also a self-hating intellectual, the learned man who used his learning to condemn The Learning. But, perhaps, he wasn't as learned as the Christian Bible tries to make us to believe, in order to uphold the crucial for the survival of Christianity principle of superiority of Faith over Knowledge. May be he was one of those who couldn't really make it as intellectuals and scholars and therefore declare that all learning is useless, which is, no doubt, just another manifestation of the sour grapes syndrom. Now, it is hard to argue with the statement that as far as the ultimate meaning and purpose of life are concerned all learning is pretty much futile. But the true intellectual would have enough intellectual courage to admit that Life has no ultimate meaning or purpose, above and beyond mere survival, instead of desperately and cowardly trying to believe that it is not so and to create new god - Jesus Christ to support this believe. 1371. The worst thing about having a writer's block is probably the nagging suspicion that while you can't write a coherent sentence even if your life depended on it your writer friends are busy creating masterpieces. 1372. It is not only beauty that is in the eyes of the beholder, but ugliness (and all other qualities) as well. One tends to find what one is looking for. We all see the world through the glasses of our souls, our proclivities, our longings. And that especially applies to all matters sexual - that peculiar obsession of man (and woman) kind. Thus some may be sexually aroused while reading The Bible, while others cooly contemplate the pages of The Decameron. 1373. An eye for an eye I can accept - this is justice in its most simple understandable form. But the thousand eyes for an eye? This is not justice. This is genocide trying poorly to hide its murderous thirst for blood behind pseudo-justice. 1374. Not to diminish the importance of the question: "Am I my brother's keeper?" the more important question in all its wider historical implications and devastating consequences is: "Am I responsible for what my brother has done?" Tragically, the answer has been always the same: "Yes!" For from the times immemorial the principle of collective responsibility was automatically and unquestionably accepted by everyone. 1375. In Heinrich Boll's Billiard at Half-Past Nine there are ten righteous men but contrary to Abraham plea he joins God to destroy Sodom-Germany, though he limits his destruction to the bricks and mortar and spare the people. 1376. Regarding Pope's apology to the Jews for the millennia of persecution, or who is guilty and who should apologize to whom and for what: Deeds not words are the final test of the true repentance. No true repentance by Christians for 2000 years of anti-Semitism will succeed unless The New Testament , both The Gospels and Letters of St. Paul, are substantially revised in order to remove the notions of anti-Semitism deeply imbedded in them. Knowing the history of the early Christianity, which as a protestant Jewish sect had to condemn in order to separate, one can understand the motivation but not condone the results. In the 21st Century the intolerance of the early Church, the viciousness of its attack on Judaism in general and on Jews in particular ( in those days the distinctions had never been even contemplated) is not simply unacceptable but presents the insurmountable obstacle to the eradication of anti-Semitism from Christianity. One cannot study Biblical passages condemning the Jews as the Christ killers on Sunday and treat them as innocent on Monday. Something has to give. And we all know what. And I really sympathize with the Christian dilemma. Considering the fact that Bible is accepted by them as a word of God and thus is a foundation of the faith, how one to go about revising it in accordance with the modern sensibilities without risking the collapse of the edifice 1377. The majority accept the world as it is and the people in it as they are, and try to make the best of it. But a few refuse and, though not always consciously, construct their own world like a play. In this play they are not only script writers and directors but also the leading characters. The rest of us are given the parts according to the "director" wishes, some designated to be friends, some enemies, some foolish, some smart, some beautiful, some ugly, etc. Nobody is ever asked whether he or she is willing to play the allotted part. The one in charge is making all the decisions. Now, depending on the Playwright/Director imagination, the suitability of the actors to the assigned parts, their pliability and willingness to submit to the creator's vision or, if they are not, his will power to force the reluctant ones to follow the script, etc. the play of his life could be either a success or a failure. Mostly it's a failure. The external circumstances interfere with even the best thought out plots, actors revolt and quit, the director's vision changes , the play is getting rewritten again and again, the new actors conscripted again without their knowledge. The new play, which is but a different version of the original one, is usually not any more successful than the old, it also falls victim to the unforeseen circumstances and bad casting. This scenario can be repeated throughout one's life many times. The lucky ones eventually give up and join the crowd. But those who couldn't learn go on from one disaster to another blaming the world and the people in it for not living up to the Playwright/Director/Leading Actor vision. Eventually they end up becoming the misanthropes, hating and despising everyone for the unwillingness to follow, to submit, for refusing to be a puppet in their theater, for preferring to have one's own life. 1378. The cruelty of man to man, the torture, the senseless killing are unknown in the Animal world. But neither are anger and hate, jealousy and resentment, injustice and betrayal. Animals are driven by needs, not emotions. It is man's superior brain which is responsible for man's inferior behavior. If man hadn't risen so much above animals he wouldn't fall so much below them. The things we are blessed with and the things we are cursed with are the same things. 1379. Taking it for granted that both men and women are equally attracted to the beautiful member of the opposite sex, and, given a choice would prefer them to the unattractive ones, the elimination of the prearrange marriages in most of the world cultures should have greatly improved the outward appearance of the majority of man/woman kind - the ugly ones would simply be excluded from reproduction. But upon close observation of the people most of us meet every day this process of the physical improvement of the human race must be very slow indeed. One of the possible reason why the natural selection doesn't seem to be working in this particular case is that though one seldom, if ever, see a good looking man in a company of an ugly woman, the reverse is not that rare. Now, taking for granted again that all things being equal women like men prefer the good looking partners why don't they reject the ugly members of the opposite sex as categorically as men do? Because evidently things are not equal - the women much more than men are willing to sacrifice their esthetical principles for the sake of companionship, relationship and, ultimately, marriage. Whether they are physically attracted to their sexual partners seems to be only a second consideration. And they are ready to give up their sexual preferences in order to gain the social advantages an attached woman still enjoys in comparison with the unattached one even in our era of proclaimed sexual and social equality of sexes. |
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