Commentary: I'm just giggling about the title of this collection being "More" Fruits of Solitude tonight.
80. It is the Mark of an ill Nature, to lessen good Actions, and aggravate ill Ones.
Being able to judge actions mostly objectively (as opposed to simply
based on who is doing them) is one of the thing people struggle the most
with. It's a shame, since it'd probably be one of the most helpful for
society.
First, there are the lazy, stupid ones. Leave them alone, they do no harm.
Second,
there are the hard-working intelligent ones. They make excellent staff
officers, ensuring that every detail is properly considered.
Third,
there are the hard-working, stupid ones. These people are a menace, and
must be fired at once. They create irrelevant work for everybody.
Finally, there are the intelligent lazy ones. They are suited for the highest office.”
--Kurt von Hammerstein-Equord, maybe.
I vaguely remembered this, so I Googled it up after I was complaining about idiots at work the other day.
I think the modern (non-military) version is
Stupid/Lazy: "Promote" into some pointless job so they're out of the way (and do no harm.)
Hard-working/intelligent: Either get fed up and leave, or burnt out and go nuts.
Hard-working/stupid: MIDDLE MANAGEMENT, BABY!
Intelligent/Lazy: These are the people who've been at the company for 20 years, still are officially near the bottom of the totem pole, and secretly run everything.
1. "The Road Runner cannot harm the Coyote except by going 'Beep-Beep!'"
2. "No outside force can harm the Coyote — only his own ineptitude or the failure of the Acme products."
3. "The Coyote could stop anytime — if he were not a fanatic. (Repeat: 'A fanatic is one who redoubles his effort when he has forgotten his aim.' — George Santayana)."
4. "No dialogue ever, except 'Beep-Beep!'"
5. "The Road Runner must stay on the road — otherwise, logically, he would not be called a Road Runner."
6. "All action must be confined to the natural environment of the two characters — the southwest American desert."
7. "All materials, tools, weapons, or mechanical conveniences, must be obtained from the Acme Corporation."
8. "Whenever possible, make gravity the Coyote's greatest enemy."
9."The Coyote is always more humiliated than harmed by his failures."
The lesson was complete nonsense, since the guy who made the lesson is either a total asshole or so dumb he doesn't realize he's a total asshole, but it's still cool when something from the blog shows up elsewhere.
Also, weird to think about it, but Teddy was president when T5FSOB was originally published.
66. To this also is to be attributed the imperfect Knowledge we have of Things, and the slow Progress we make in attaining to a Better; like the Children of Israel that were forty Years upon their Journey, from Egypt to Canaan, which might have been performed in Less than One.
It's amazing how much easier it is to learn a ton of depth about something once you've got the basics down.
69. Always remember to bound thy Thoughts to the present Occasion.
70. If it be thy Religious Duty, suffer nothing else to Share in them. And if any Civil or Temporal Affair, observe the same Caution, and thou wilt be a whole Man to every Thing, and do twice the Business in the same Time.
This was my Scoutmaster's favorite thing to say to smartass teenagers.
Summary: Once again, fuck Nietzsche.
Commentary:
52. The Wise Man Governs himself by the Reason of his Case, and because what he does is Best: Best, in a Moral and Prudent, not a Sinister Sense.
This just makes me think of someone coming up with an elaborate evil plan and then going, "Wait, too sinister!" at the last minute.
56. To do Evil, that Good may come of it, is for Bunglers in Politicks, as well as Morals.
We're back on this again.
60. He is never Captious, nor Critical; hates Banter and Jests: He may be Pleasant, but not Light; he never deals but in Substantial Ware, and leaves the rest for the Toy Pates (or Shops) of the World; which are so far from being his Business, that they are not so much as his Diversion.
I will never be a wise man. I can't give up my Banter and Jests.
Commentary: Iliked the shorter entries in Part 1 better. 40ish on one gets excessive.
50. Art thou a Magistrate? Prefer such as have clean Characters where they live, and of Estates to secure a just Discharge of their Trusts; that are under no Temptation to strain Points for a Fortune: For sometimes such may be found, sooner than they are Employed.
3. They think it enough, not to defraud a Man of his Pay, or betray his Friend; but never consider, That the Law forbids the one at his Peril, and that Virtue is seldom the Reason of the other.
This is a bit more selective than part one.
4. But certainly he that Covets, can no more be a Moral Man, than he that Steals; since he does so in his Mind. Nor can he be one that Robs his Neighbor of his Credit, or that craftily undermines him of his Trade or Office.
Apparently resisting temptation isn't good enough anymore.
Every once in a while, I link something that's so 00s Internet.
Summary: The best way to serve God is to be a good person. Life is temporary, soul is eternal.
Commentary:
478. God is better served in resisting a Temptation to Evil, than in many formal Prayers.
I like how this isn't even active service. It's not "you have to go on 500 missionary trips" or whatever. Just don't be a jackass. If we all started there, it'd be a big improvement.
It will take me one of these amounts of time to finish this.
Summary: Christ=Good
Commentary: Oh my god this section is like 1/5 of the whole book.
454. Religion is the Fear of God, and its Demonstration on good Works; and Faith is the Root of both; For without Faith we cannot please God, nor can we fear what we do not believe.
Quick, someone who took a formal logic class diagram this for me. (I don't think it works)
455. The Devils also believe and know abundance: But in this is the Difference, their Faith works not by Love, nor their Knowledge by Obedience; and therefore they are never the better for them. And if ours be such, we shall be of their Church, not of Christ's: For as the Head is, so must the Body be.
But what does it work by? Someone call Anton LeVay.
459. That Minister whose Life is not the Model of his Doctrine, is a Babler rather than a Preacher; a Quack rather than a Physician of Value.
331. The first [Rex] is endanger'd by the Ambition of the Popular, which shakes the Constitution: The other by an ill Administration [Tyrannus], which hazards the Tyrant and his Family.
And they both lead into each other.
I think he read Nietzsche.
342. It is true, that where a Subject is more Popular than the Prince, the Prince is in Danger: But it is as true, that it is his own Fault: For no Body has the like Means, Interest or Reason, to be popular as He.
Penn wants you to stop sucking an use your bully pulpit.
343. It is an unaccountable thing, that some Princes incline rather to be fear'd than lov'd; when they see, that Fear does not oftener secure a Prince against the Dissatisfaction of his People, than Love makes a Subject too many for such a Prince.
He read him, but he disagrees with him.
350. The End of every thing should direct the Means: Now that of Government being the Good of the whole, nothing less should be the Aim of the Prince.
Penn is all about the ends not justifying the means.
A large chunk of this (most of 352-362) deals with the ministers, cabinet posts, etc., which is something you don't see as much government writing about (despite the fact that they probably do more than most chief execs). Basically, pick people who are moral and actually have relevant qualifications, and your government will do well.
Bonus: My internet is very bad. Imagine a meme about clicking the reject button on the cookie pop up here.
Summary: Don't be a showoff.
Commentary: This is the first one I remember being so effectively paired. Popularity is basically, "don't try to get too much attention" and Privacy is "and here's all the bad things that happen if you do."
At one point, I thought Justin Timberlake was Timbaland.
Summary: Stop doing bad things for good reasons.
Commentary:
310. It is too common an Error, to invert the Order of Things; by making an End of that which is a Means, and a Means of that which is an End.
318. If we are but sure the End is Right, we are too apt to gallop over all Bounds to compass it; not considering that lawful Ends may be very unlawfully attained.
The older I get, the less I like "the ends justify the means."
315. It is an old Proverb, Maxima bella ex levissimis causis: The greatest Feuds have had the smallest Beginnings.
317. It is one of the fatalest Errors of our Lives, when we spoil a good Cause by an ill Management: And it is not impossible but we may mean well in an ill Business; but that will not defend it.
If there was a Classic Guy's law, it would be: The best argument against *cause* is 10 minutes with *cause's people.* Which is kind of a, "Democracy is the worst form of government... except for all the others.”
But I do find it pretty universally true. I support both gay and gun rights, but if you put me in a room with the NRA and average gay rights group, I would support blindfolding all the NRA members, putting them in a circle, and locking the door.
319. Let us be careful to take just ways to compass just Things; that they may last in their Benefits to us.
Please refrain from ramming through shitty laws to achieve good things. It never works, and they always get overturned or just ignored.
320. There is a troublesome Humor some Men have, that if they may not lead, they will not follow; but had rather a thing were never done, than not done their own way, tho' other ways very desirable.
Some people say "lead, follow, or get out of the way" is supposed to shame you into action. I disagree. "Get out of the way" is a totally valid, and broadly appreciated, option. I don't need you to help me, I just need you to leave me alone so I can get things dune.
About a year ago, I said I was going to do the "boulders, pebbles, and sand" approach to divvy up the reading. Having used it for a while, I don't think it's working. With a long work (like Don Quixote) it can take too long to blog nicely every day. I did The Odyssey in chunks, and that works a lot better. On the opposite end, the tiny little snippets ones are also awkward to get through. To that end, I think I'm going to adjust things again. I'll try to keep one "boulder" and one "sand" in the rotation at all times. I'll do the boulder updates occasionally, like once a week. Likewise, the sand really slows everything else down, so I'll try to do it more as a "filler" in a blog than its own thing. Besides that, it's just on to the pebbles.
Summary: Oh my, my this here Anakin guy Maybe Vader someday later, now he's just a small fry He left his home and kissed his mommy goodbye Sayin', "Soon I'm gonna be a Jedi" Soon I'm gonna be a Jedi
Commentary: Went to a Weird Al concert this week. Obviously,"The Saga Begins" is a classic.
Al apparently got about 90% of the movie right just from internet rumors.
He has Stormtroopers on stage when he does it live, and they're all from the local 501st Chapter, which would probably be about the coolest thing you could do.
I like to think that Obi-Wan (especially sassy Clone Wars era Obi-Wan) would like Weird Al.
I'm just going to close this out. Chapter by chapter is too slow for the style of commentary I do on this blog, and my reading pacing was a mess on this. I was enjoying it, but I wound up rushing it to finish a reading challenge, and got kind of skimmy. Now I've been done most of it for over a month, so I'm trying to blog it from rushed notes. So, DQ Book 1:
1. Is super episodic. More so than some actual serial novels. They just do random stuff for a chapter and it may or may not have any baring on what comes next.
2. Is a Tom and Jerry cartoon. It's just weird slapstick of them getting beat up (usually by goat herds) for like half the book.
3. The only parts anyone every remembers are in the first 50 pages. I dunno, everyone just loses interest after the windmills, I guess.
Overall, I enjoyed it. Doesn't feel fair to give it a numerical rating. Part 2 tomorrow!
