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| QUOTATIONS 1787-1820 |
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| 1787. Both authoritarian and democratic governments treat their people like children. The difference lies mainly in the style of "parenting." Authoritarian government act as a disciplinarian parent. When a child(people) asks for something the answer usually is a firm "no." If the child insists he is disciplined with different degree of severity. Democratic government acts as a shrewd and diplomatic parent. When a child(people) asks for something first a parent tries to convince the child that he doesn't really wants it. If the child insist the parent will try to distract him, to switch his attention to other objects or subjects which have nothing to do with the initial request until the child forget what he wanted in the first place. What unites this two styles of parenting(governing) is the net outcome. In neither case children/people get what they've asked for. 1788. It is hard enough to tolerate the arrogance of privilege or to endure for long the arrogance of merit. But when the two are combined in the same person the cumulative impact on a recipient is simply unbearable. 1789. When does admiration turn into envy and good will into hostility? Why does it happen? Is it inevitable? Is anything could be done to prevent it? It seems to be true that human capacity for admiration is in the inverse proportion to the proximity of the object of admiration to the admirer: "A prophet is not without honor , save in his own country, and in his own house." Should one conceal his abilities — "put a candle under a bushel" —or at least make them less conspicuous, lest they arouse enmity and jealousy? Or should one ignore them and be himself, regardless? Yet, it is worth remembering that the mediocrities would never abide the brilliance in their midst. The only way to escape their resentment and perhaps gain their admiration is to rise high enough above them so that they wouldn't feel diminished by comparison. Success seems to be the only antidote to rejection and hate. The moment they realize you are not one of them is the moment of your redemption in their eyes. 1790. The best education can only make one competent. Anyone risen above it is a self-made man, who has nobody to thank but himself. 1791. This is what distinguishes a successful man from an unsuccessful one — throughout his life anything he does or says in public looks and sounds like a part of a resume , a rehearsal for a job interview , an endeavor to present himself in the best possible light to any potential employer in the future. The ultimate test of his life is success. Anything else is at best irrelevant, and at worse self-indulgence he can't afford if he is to succeed. And to succeed is all he wants, above anything else. 1792. After all has been said and done, what and how much one is willing to do to survive defines a man. Though, of course, the meaning of what "survival' is depends on who one is in the first place. 1793. It is hard enough "to know oneself," but at least one is fully autonomous in pursuing this noble ambition. But "to be oneself", i.e. to always be true to oneself is much more difficult, for one has to constantly fight the whole world to remain as such. One has to work within the system, in Rome do as the Romans do. And following this worldly wisdom accept, and be accepted too. To be oneself is mortal sin, to say oneself is losing battle, the war that none of us could win, the score that none of us could settle. There isn't anything to gain in struggle, but loneliness and pain. One cannot defeat the Crowd as one has or will find out. 1794. There is this one consolation prize that seems to be available to all the disappointed, disillusioned and bitter — the knowledge that someone is worse off than you are. 1795. Left free to their own devices most of the people most of the times will choose ignorance over knowledge, folly over wisdom, mediocrity over brilliance. In art they will prefer kitsch to masterpiece, in music — popular tunes of today to the timeless classics, in literature — trashy novels to great writing. Democratic, i.e. widespread taste is by its nature is low-brow, and if it were Florentine mob instead of Medici hiring artists to cater to public taste there would be no Renaissance but something akin to a flee-market selling nothing but mass produced Madonnas and relics. 1796. What is a similarity between a man and a bottle of milk? Eventually both go sour. What is the difference? A man doesn't know his expiry date. 1797. To mortify one's flesh long enough to receive wide acclaim and thus to qualify for sainthood one has to be very healthy indeed to begin with. For those who aren't, to endure for any length of time the extreme physical depravation which involved in the heroic struggle of the noble spirit against the sinful body is to condemn oneself to the inevitable death before anyone notices it. In this light the Biblical maxim "the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak" assumes very different meaning from the one implied in the sacred text. 1798. The so-called innate and universal religiosity of Man, evinced by indisputable fact that in all societies at all times religion played an important part (the phenomenon used by apologists of Religion as an indirect proof of God's existence) may lead us to believe that by analogy with Aristotelian definition of man as a political animal, "zoon politikon," man could also be defined as a religious animal, "zoon klerikon." Yet, even if we assume, for argument sake, that it's in man's nature to be religious, it shouldn't obscure another fact that this "religious part" of human nature is neither immutable nor independent. Anyone who is willing to consider human religiosity not as static but as dynamic phenomenon couldn't fail to notice its steady decline in the past 200 years, the process which has been closely correlated with the considerable decrease in man's vulnerability to nature's forces, brought about, in its turn, by dramatic advances in science and, especially, medicine. Which literally changed "human nature" if we consider man as a biological entity susceptible to all kinds of diseases and the decrease of this susceptibility as a sign of this change. For the most of human history this susceptibility and apparent powerlessness of man when afflicted by various illnesses and especially by devastating epidemics produced "human nature", in psychological sense, which is fearful, humble, resigned to its fate, and hoping for salvation through miracles. Which all happens to be the attributes of a religious mind. Thus, if we compare a state of this "human nature" in Middle Ages when bubonic plague could wipe out 1/3 of a country population and its state now when antibiotics are capable to overcome the most dreadful infectious diseases, when life expectancy doubled or tripled and when the main societal problem is increasingly what to do with people who live "too long," we may easily discern the cause of the decline of religiosity in the new "human nature" — less fearful, often even daring, confident, self-assured, active, self-reliant, etc., and therefore less religious, all because a "new man," who has been made less vulnerable by progress in science and medicine, believes less and less in God, and more and more in himself. And for as long as this progress continues to decrease our vulnerability by the same degree our religiosity will continue to decrease as well. Amen! 1799. The surest way to please an envious man and gain his good will (provided, he is capable of it) is to openly, even enthusiastically, admit your imperfections. Works like a magic. 1800. I don't think it's logically wrong "to compare apples with oranges," though it appears to be automatically accepted by everyone as being self-evident. Some people clearly prefer one to another. And what lies at the base of their respective preferences if not a comparison of taste, texture, form, etc., of these two different kinds of fruits? Don't we always compare different things? Don't we always say: "I would rather have one thing than another?" The only time this comparison invalid is when we say that apples are better than oranges. 1801. Once upon a time wisdom and old age were considered to be synonymous. This notion found its reflection in fairy tales, legends and myths. In many of them there are old men who during an unusually long life acquire much knowledge and wisdom which they use to help those who ask for it. And since all fairy tales, legends and myths are concerned with what is wished for but unattainable in the real world, so this image of "an old wise man" reveal the widespread desire for a life much longer than ordinary so that the wisdom one supposedly accumulates through life is not wasted through death. For what is the point in acquiring all this knowledge if one takes it to the grave just when it could be used by him and others. Thus, those seemingly immortal old wise men is the expression of our revolt against death which makes life meaningless. 1802.TO MY AGE-MATES I'm neither well, nor truly sick I'm neither dead, nor fully quick. I'm sixty six, and soon enough Life will be calling its last bluff. I hardly sleep, am always tired I wake up ready to retire. I'm sixty six, and soon enough Life will be calling its last bluff. From dawn to dusk I try to find something to do, to soothe my mind. I'm sixty six, and soon enough Life will be calling its last bluff. The slightest stress sends heart a flutter Beset by fears it couldn't utter. I'm sixty six, and soon enough Life will be calling its last bluff. Each day starts with a deep foreboding, with weariness of senseless plodding upon this earth, but soon enough Life will be calling its last bluff. They say, better be safe than sorry And so, I worry, worry, worry. I'm sixty six, and soon enough Life will be calling its last bluff. Life's but a hope, hope for the better But does it any longer matter? I'm sixty six, and soon enough Life will be calling its last bluff. To spend a few more years in fear? I feel I've had it up to here. I'm sixty six, and soon enough Life will be calling its last bluff. Not a dream left. All passed away. Free at long last to rise above the fray. I'm sixty six, and soon enough Life will be calling its last bluff. 1803.The Last Journey I am getting ready for a journey Of the thousands miles, may be more One, I know well, of no returning One I grew impatient waiting for. I shall travel light and unencumbered Carrying nothing but a tired soul Glad to leave behind the few days, numbered Even as I was born, new and whole. Glad to say goodby to the years broken Strewn across the wasteland of my life To the fate so treacherous and mocking To the one so trusting as was I. On the mound of remnants of illusions In the desert of the unquenched dreams I stand quiet, ready for conclusion Of this feeble farce, no tears, no screams To be swept away by seraphim. 1804. A stiff upper lip may won the Empire, but it's a quivering one that captivated the hearts of its subject. 1805. Some one like me — a slave to the "protestant working ethic," perpetually driven by fear of "wasting my time" when not engaged in some productive activities — may find at least one good thing about death: it frees one from the compulsive obligation to do anything. 1806. Perhaps the anti-Semites are right — the Jews do exercise the significant influence over arts (whether undue or not is a matter of one's personal views). However, they do it not through money, as the anti-Semites claim, but through disproportionate to their numbers participation in them, both as consumers and creators. 1807. Though I myself do not really value life's pleasures, I'm well aware that the rest of humanity, with a very few exceptions, does. But everyone needs a purpose in life to go on. And so, while the purpose of the majority of men and women is to gratify their needs and wants, I made my purpose to help as many of them as I can to realize this. Thus I consciously put myself into a state of servitude to the real people I come into contact with — relatives, friends, acquaintances and anyone I'm even remotely connected to. I help them by doing for them what I believe they will benefit from, whatever this may be. In addition, for many years I volunteered in as many social support organizations as was physically possible. And even my writing is a kind of help. For I sincerely hope that it will help the others to understand both themselves and the world around them more, and thus ease the pain of living by better comprehending its causes and finding the various ways to avoid or, at least, to reduce it. 1808. As for an immigrant you know you have "arrived" when you can size up "a native" at a glance and determine the level of discourse he shall be comfortable with. 1809. One should not confuse pride with arrogance. Pride, in the best sense of the word, is a feeling one experiences having accomplished something one thought prior to it as being incapable of. Arrogance is state of mind of one who thinks he is better than anyone else. Thus, the difference between the two is that while pride is directed inwardly arrogance is directed outwardly. 1810. Sometimes, while reading about other people, whether real or fictional, about their lives, their thoughts and feelings, their joys and sorrows, tragedies and comedies of their daily existence, I wonder would these people read about me? 1811. An inherent contradiction is not resolved by classification of its logically conflicting elements as if they represent equally valid components of the phenomenon. 1812. Some people are so reticent they have to be drawn out to reveal anything about themselves. The others are so "out" — literally "in your face" —one wishes they get back at least a little bit into their shells. Needless to say neither of these extreme types make for a good companion in all sorts of human interaction, but especially in conversations. The best as always in the middle — a harmonious mixture of reticence and gregariousness in one person makes him or her the most desirable interlocutor or friend. 1813. To make herself more attractive in the eyes of a man a woman has to make herself more beautiful than she naturally is: by buying beautiful clothes, beautiful jewelry, putting on make-up, doing her hair, etc. — all things equally pleasurable to her as well. Thus in making herself attractive to a man a woman has nothing to lose, she only gains (and if she is a wife, usually at the expense of her husband as well). To make himself attractive to a woman a man has to achieve a high prestige, to gain power, to accumulate wealth. All these things are in short supply in any society and to acquire them a man has to endure a lot of hardship, to take risks, even sometimes to endanger his very life. Thus in making himself attractive to a woman a man can never be sure whether the prize is worth the efforts, whether he is losing more than he gains. In view of this, it is clear that the game of love doesn't take place on the level playing fields. 1814. Many of our worries come from the exaggerated sense of self-importance, from the failure to realize how little most of the people actually care about us to intentionally cause us any harm. 1815. The true work of art has to be either fully realistic in all its details so as to create an accurate picture of a particular instance of life as it is, or openly and unambiguously symbolic and metaphoric so as to give an easily recognizable universal representation of human condition. If it is neither, but at best the mixture of both it would only awoke confusion and produce a feeling of incompleteness and falsity in us Unfortunately, most of works of art fall into this category. 1816. Some people are born selfish, the others must make themselves so if the want to have their own lives instead of living someone else's. 1817. The answer to the question many Holocaust's survivals have been asking themselves for almost half a century after the end of the war —"why nobody was interested in listening to their accounts of the horror of concentration camps" — is very simple: we do not want to acknowledge the suffering of the people whom we hate, especially as in the case of the Jews, we may feel implicated in causing this suffering. 1818. Whether they like it to admit or not the modern Jews (unlike their ancient ancestors) are the product of historical anti-Semitism, i.e. their lives and thoughts, their action and reaction toward the outside world and among themselves, their philosophy and behavior – all that makes a modern jew who he is – has been evolved as a reaction to the 2000 years of anti-Semitism. They are the victims whose whole being was shaped by the perpetrators. And anyone who want to understand what the Jews are has first to learn the nature of the anti-Semites. Both are intrinsically connected and one is uncomprehensible without another. 1819. At all times and in all places (though more in North America than anywhere else and more now than ever before) it has been accepted by the majority as self-evident truism that one's personal happiness is largely one's personal responsibility, and if one is unhappy one has to change oneself instead of trying to change the world. Therefore, the unhappy people are invariably, and presumably with the best intentions, urged to do something about their behavior, about the way they think and feel, how they act and react, in a word, about who they are. Such advice is based on the seemingly straightforward assumption that one who is A and unhappy by becoming B which is opposite of A will automatically become happy. As, for example, if one who is modest and self-effacing is also unhappy, all he has to do to become happy is to turn himself into the opposite – assertive and self-assured. However, like many others, ostensibly straightforward logical assumptions, this one has a flaw as well, which could make one who would follow above mentioned advice even less happy than before. What makes most people happy or unhappy most of the times is their relations with other people. And the most important of these relations are the long-term ones. Such relations are supported and maintained by the consistent realizations of the mutual expectations. People in the long-term relations know each other well through the long experience of interaction. These interactions could be compared to the functioning of a mechanism in which different parts(people) fit more or less smoothly after the long usage ground off the sharp edges. Now imagine that you –a part of this mechanism – decide to change, while all other parts – your relatives, friends, acquaintances, co-workers, etc. – remain the same. Clearly, "a new you" wouldn't fit well with the rest, which will lead to frictions and eventual breakdown of the old arrangements making you more unhappy than before. Trying to fit the proverbial round peg into a square hole (or vice versa) never works. But if, despite knowing this, you still decide to change, the only right way to do it is to look for the new relationships as well with the new people who didn't know "the old you" and shall accept or reject you on the basis on their present experience of interacting with you and not on the familiar expectations developed in the past by those who knew you for a long time. In a word, the "new you" will need the "new them" to have a chance on the new happiness. 1820. In coping with life women have a certain advantage over men – if everything else fails, they can always find refuge in the mundane. |
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