Bonus:
And the Turks.
Summary: Nobility is good.
Commentary:
A monarchy, where there is no nobility at all, is ever a pure and absolute tyranny; as that of the Turks.
It does sometimes seem like it'd be nice if people were raised to rule graciously were in charge.
Bonus:
Summary: Be bold (like wikipedia)
Commentary:
Question was asked of Demosthenes, what was the chief part of an orator? he answered, action; what next? action; what next again? action.
This is a fucking meme.
Bacon's Essay 11 (Of Great Place)
Bonus:
Summary: People with lots of ambition are busy. Work on small things and your life will be better.
Commentary: I am sleepy tonight.
So much Latin.
Bonus:
Kind of a a gimmie.
Summary: Love makes you crazy.
Commentary:
For there was never proud man thought so absurdly well of himself, as the lover doth of the person loved; and therefore it was well said, That it is impossible to love, and to be wise.
Can you be wise about other things?
perils commonly ask to be paid in pleasures
That's an epigraph right there.
Bonus:
Commentary:
an ejaculation or irradiation of the eye
Like the end of a bad date.
Non est curiosus, quin idem sit malevolus.
There is no curious person who is not malevolent! Then why am I reading all this stuff?
Deformed persons, and eunuchs, and old men, and bastards, are envious.
Next time someone is envious of me, I'm going to ask if they're deformed, a eunuch, old, or just a bastard.
Bacon's Essays 8 (Marriage And Single Life)
Bonus:
Twue wuv
Summary: Marriage is a lot of work, so you'll have less time for MAD GENIUS, but also be less of an asshole (hopefully).
Commentary:
HE THAT hath wife and children hath given hostages to fortune; for they are impediments to great enterprises, either of virtue or mischief.
BACON HATES YOUR FAMILY!
(Not really, has good things to say later. I just like the forcefulness of the opener.)
Bacon's Essays 7 (Of Parents And Children)
Bonus:
As Solomon said...
Summary: If you're gonna have kids, make sure you guide them well. If you don't have kids, your work will be your legacy.
Commentary:
And surely a man shall see the noblest works and foundations have proceeded from childless men
I want to see how far back people have been saying this now.
optimum elige, suave et facile illud faciet consuetudo. "Choose what is best; custom will make it pleasant and easy"
That is my goal with doing this every night.
Bacon's Essays 6 (Simulation And Dissimulation)
Bonus:
Sweet album art
Summary: When you hide yourself, you weaken yourself.
Commentary:
I didn't think of dissimulation in this context before, but it appears aligned with the dictionary definition. (Hiding under a false appearance.) I always think of it as just not engaging with the situation.
There be three degrees of this hiding and veiling of a man's self. The first, closeness, reservation, and secrecy; when a man leaveth himself without observation, or without hold to be taken, what he is. The second, dissimulation, in the negative; when a man lets fall signs and arguments, that he is not, that he is. And the third, simulation, in the affirmative; when a man industriously and expressly feigns and pretends to be, that he is not.
I think that first is closer to how we use it today.
The third and greatest is, that it depriveth a man of one of the most principal instruments for action; which is trust and belief. The best composition and temperature, is to have openness in fame and opinion; secrecy in habit; dissimulation in seasonable use; and a power to feign, if there be no remedy.
Truth.
Bonus:
Sure, I dunno, getting bulled by Powerful Rangers is adversity.
Summary: Learn to admire surviving adversity.
Commentary:
The virtue of prosperity, is temperance; the virtue of adversity, is fortitude; which in morals is the more heroical virtue
Someone call Ben Franklin.
Bonus:
Summary: Revenge good. Pardon princely.
Commentary:
REVENGE is a kind of wild justice; which the more man's nature runs to, the more ought law to weed it out.
That one guy ruined revenge for everyone by doing 12 degrees of family punishment or something.
Bacon's Essays 3 (Unity In Religion)
Bonus:
I have no idea where this song is in the show, and the internet is not helping.
Summary: Be the good kind of religious, not an asshole.
Commentary:
The quarrels, and divisions about religion, were evils unknown to the heathen. The reason was, because the religion of the heathen, consisted rather in rites and ceremonies, than in any constant belief. For you may imagine, what kind of faith theirs was, when the chief doctors, and fathers of their church, were the poets. But the true God hath this attribute, that he is a jealous God; and therefore, his worship and religion,
Bacon is making a stunning argument for paganism here.
Short essay even shorter: religion is good when it brings us good things (fellowship, charity, etc.) Don't get overly freaked out about minor differences between groups (THE WINE IS BLOOD‽). Especially don't start religious wars over them.
This should've been in 15MAD, it was much better than most of the other religious readings.
Bonus:
But why no audio?
Summary: Dying isn't as bad as it looks.
Commentary:
It's like the whole (non-bullshit parts of) Phaedo in one paragraph!
So much Latin. Some of which almost turn into Tom Swifties.
Bacon's Essays (1625? Edition)
Bonus:
Commentary:
This is going to be kind of like Fruits of Solitude, but with one number for the whole set instead of one per maxim. I think.
This is the oldest (actual prose) I've read so far (dating back to the 1500s, ) in the reading. Some of the Greek stuff is older, but it's translated into (oldish) modern English instead of EME. I'll manage, but it will slow me down a bit.. Also, gratuitous Latin.
One of the fathers, in great severity, called poesy vinum daemonum, because it fireth the imagination; and yet, it is but with the shadow of a lie.
POETRY IS DEMON WINE!
I like Bacon's distinction here between poetry, fantasy, etc. A lot of the "truthiness" writers wind up ranting about how plays are evil or something, but we can all be adults and realize Jack Nicholson isn't actually a murderous hotel custodian, asylum patient, colonel, etc.
')
Almost a winky face.
misologists
A person who hates reason and logic.
Phaedo done: 0/5. Dialogues are terrible, and this one is extra bullshit.
Bonus: I have exhausted my meme supply.
Summary: Soul, body, changeable, blah, blah.
Commentary: It's just a repetition of the previous page(s)!
Bonus:
Hellas, he replied, is a large place,
"Hell is a large place" is the title of my anime about a Demon Bounty Hunter. It's just Yu Yu Trigun.
Bonus: Live fake horse racing!
Summary: Rock flies, somebody dies.
Commentary: This story sucks, and it has sucked everytime I read it since middle school. It has three issues.
1. Shirley Jackson's prose is like nails on a chalkboard. "the flowers were blossoming profusely and the grass was richly green." Get the fuck out of here. That reads like it was written by a middle schooler.
2. It's opaque and contradictory in, I assume, an intentional way, but it's just annoying.
3. Tessie is the least interesting/likable character in the story. I wouldn't go so far as to say I want her to get stoned to death, but she's not much above that.
Girl with Daddy issues gets groomed by older guy, taken to secluded location, winds up pregnant, he also bangs her step-sister, no one knows who some of the kids' dads are, suspicious adoptions, all while the poors starve from climate change.
Bacon's Essays 14 (Nobility) Bonus: And the Turks. Summary: Nobility is good. Commentary: A monarchy, where there is no nobility at...
