Some Pop-up reflections…
These days there is so much to read, and so little time, so here are a few ‘pop-up’ observations
These days there is so much to read, and so little time, so here are a few ‘pop-up’ observations - the first few seriously serious and others slightly flippant - that take no time to read, but as much, or as little, time to think about as you care to give them.
And please add suggestions of your own to this post…
‘you can sway a thousand men by appealing to their prejudices quicker than you can convince one man by logic’ (writer Robert Henlein)
‘the Germans have never forgiven the Jews for Auschwitz' (psychoanalyst Zvi Rex)
we are confronting ‘…the racism of low expectations…’ (various, including Noel Pearson and Jacinto Price)
‘even a stone can be a teacher’ (psychologist Sheldon Kopp)
‘my life has been filled with terrible misfortune, most of which never happened’ (French philosopher Montaigne)
‘we used to get the facts from newspapers and have to do the thinking for ourselves; now the media tell us what to think and we have to figure out the facts for ourselves’….
‘I am a socialist in economics, a liberal in politics, and a conservative in culture'. (American political scientist Daniel Bell)
‘Kakistocracy’ is a real word, of Greek origin, dating back to the seventeenth century.
It means ‘rule by the worst’! (A more recent addition is ‘inheritocracy’.)
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Indeed much wisdom is to be found in words in other languages that have no English counterpart:
The German word ‘Verschlimmbessern’ describes a phenomenon, well known to government and ordinary people alike: namely, making something worse by trying to fix it.
Another German term with no English counterpart is ‘Fernweh’: a deep longing for somewhere you have never been to, perhaps best described as the opposite of homesickness.
And the more familiar ‘Schadenfreude’: pleasure at the misfortune of another.
‘Gluschdich’ is a Pennsylvanian-Dutch word that means “I am not hungry but I feel like eating”.
The French have ‘esprit de I'escalier’, and the Germans ‘Treppenwitz: a witty remark that occurs to you too late, literally on the way down the stairs.
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Witty one-liners can say it all:
‘I knew Doris Day before she became a virgin’ (Oscar Levant)
‘he’s all tip and no iceberg’ (Paul Keating)
‘communism is a system in which man exploits man; capitalism is the opposite….’
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Finally, a Prayer on Ageing (attributed, possibly falsely, to a 16th century nun):
Lord,
you know (better than I) that I am growing older.
Keep me from the habit of thinking I must say something on every subject and on every occasion.
Release me from the craving to straighten out everybody’s affairs.
Make me thoughtful but not moody, helpful but not bossy.
With my vast store of wisdom it seems a pity not to use it all,
but You know I want to still have a few friends at the end.
Keep my mind from the recital of endless details;
give me wings to get to the point.
Seal my lips on my aches and pains.
They are increasing and the love of rehearsing them becomes sweeter as the years go by.
I dare not ask to enjoy the repetitious tales of others, but help me to endure them with patience.
I dare not ask for improved memory, but for a growing humility when my memory seems to clash with the memories of others.
Teach me the glorious lesson that occasionally I may be mistaken.
Keep me reasonably sweet. I do not want to be like a Saint; some of them are so hard to live with. But a sour old person is one of the crowning works of the devil.
Give me the ability to see good things in unexpected places and talents in unexpected people. And, Lord, give me the grace to tell them so.
Amen.
I liked the comments on ageing and was reminded Churchill's response to someone who told him that his fly was undone-"No matter-the dead bird does not leave the nest."