Letter From America: Wisdom Ancient And Modern
...With his own rich dark humour, Will Rogers offered: "It’s not what we don’t know that hurts; it’s what we know that ain’t so!" That prolific writer, Anonymous, added his own twopenn’orth with, "Those who know least argue most." While GK Chesterton chimed in with, "People quarrel because they cannot argue!"...
The irrepressible Ronnie Bray offers some wise words on wisdom.
Ancient Wisdom has a lot going for it. For one thing, it is ancient, and that guarantees it has been well tested already, thus reducing the need for modern fools to break open their skulls to see whether the old stuff still works.
That’s what ought to happen, but the fact that there is grown a whole slew of Modern Wisdom goes to show that there are plenty of modern people that do not trust ancient wisdom and so have to meet ruin head on in their own particular way. Nonetheless, some of this new stuff is worth remembering, and being convinced that this is so I offer you a selection of pearls, hoping that they will not become embedded in anyone’s trotters.
For example, in the matter of what we know and what we think we know, often two discrete quantities of which it can be said that never the twain shall meet, one sage said, "He who knows everything has a lot to learn."
With his own rich dark humour, Will Rogers offered: "It’s not what we don’t know that hurts; it’s what we know that ain’t so!" That prolific writer, Anonymous, added his own twopenn’orth with, "Those who know least argue most." While GK Chesterton chimed in with, "People quarrel because they cannot argue!" I think he was striking at the root of much of the contention that plagues our modern world, but which is probably the richest heritage of human societies around the world and throughout time.
Diversity of knowledge and disagreements as to the facts on the same subject is the most common cause of contentions. Anonymous insists, "No man can think clearly when his fists are clenched. Whereas, Mark Twain avers, "Get your facts first, and then you can distort them as you please."
Problems arise when the other fellow cannot see the facts as you see them, and if he does, he doesn’t give them the same weight and interpretation as you do, and that is the beginning of troubles. Sensing that this is so, Leroy Brownlow uttered the memorable line, "There are times when silence has the loudest voice." I have applied this scrap of wisdom to a particular bit of unpleasantness and, so far, it has worked very well.
In this I have the support of none other than Ernest Hemingway who pointed out to those that would listen, "Never mistake motion for action." By the same reckoning, we ought not to confuse immobility with inaction.
Quentin Hogg, ermine clad campanologist and icy sea bather, insists "The best way to win an argument is to start off by being right." Although Quentin and I disagree on most important matters, I must agree that this time he is quite right, and he would agree that I am as right as he was.
Joe Joubert says, "Kindness consists in loving people more than they deserve," and he is right. From experience most of us are aware that it is all too easy to be wrong, so we should cut folks a little slack when they indulge in that time worn custom of getting everything wrong and blaming it all on you, er, that is, blaming it all on me, er, or on you!
Being sympathetic to those that wrong you is the stamp of a mature adult. One such observed, "The more sympathy you give, the less you need." How wise, and what a different world it would be if only some troubled souls would live by that notion.
Of course, it is always easier to say something than it is to do something, as our old friend Anonymous remarked, "After all is said and done, more is said than done." It has also been noted by him that, "Nothing is impossible for the man that doesn’t have to do it himself."
Being human, and, you understand, I am giving you the benefit of the doubt that you are human, we should "Expect people to be better than they are; it helps them to become better. But don’t be disappointed when they are not; it helps them to keep trying." Thus says happy-sounding soul, Merry Browne.
When it comes to our own failures, "I tried, but it didn’t work," is a lot better than "I wish I’d tried." That should encourage us never to give up trying even when others give up on us. That goes hand in hand with the wise counsel not to take ourselves too seriously, a theme sponsored by the great philosopher, Bertrand Russell, who cautioned, "One of the symptoms of an approaching mental breakdown is the belief that one’s work is terribly important."
Understanding the shortcomings of our own humanity should make us more compassionate to those that disappoint us. As Bob Hope observed, "If you haven’t any charity in your heart you have the worst kind of heart trouble."
One fellow that didn’t rise to the heights of altruism was Jim Feibig, who wryly droned, "No one should be allowed to play the violin until he has mastered it." Perhaps we have said worse things when our Wisdomed Muse was absent on other business. I will admit to suggesting that the Irish gave the bagpipes to the Scots and the Scots haven’t seen the joke yet. Naturally, that should be taken with a pinch of attic salt.
What we do learn from the wise is that the pathways of life are sweeter when we do our best to smooth them for others, than when we spend our time clamouring for them to make them easier for us to travel. Not everyone sees the wisdom in this and, therefore, I have devised an escape plan guaranteed to change your life whenever others will not co-operate in efforts to make things better for you.
So, in case of emergency follow these instructions:
Grab your coat
Get your hat
Leave your worries on the doorstep
Just direct your feet to the sunny side of the street.
Well, it’s pleasantly musical and it works for me, so, I’ll see you over there, pal!
© 2010 – Ronnie Bray
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
http://yorkshiretales.com/journalsnormagoodwin/
