Yearning Blue
  • Home
  • Local Poet
  • Local Artist
  • Publications
  • Me and the Family
    • The Family >
      • Family News 1998
      • Family News 1999
      • Family News 2000
      • Family News 2001
      • Family News 2002
      • Family News 2004
      • Family News 2006
      • Family News 2007
      • Family News 2008
      • Family News 2009
      • Family News 2010
      • Family News 2011
      • Family News 2012
      • Family News 2013
      • Family News 2014
      • Family News 2015
      • Family News 2016
      • Family News 2017
  • Poems
    • The View from the Hilltop
    • Winter Sun
    • Thoughts at a wedding
    • Come dance with me.
    • Seasons of Love
    • Last weeks red roses
    • Christmas Surprise
    • The Sound of Christmas
    • A Grace
    • Worship in the Woods
    • Noses
    • Purpose
    • How many bananas?
    • Arthur
  • Short Stories
    • Interviews with a Magician
    • The First Lesson of Magic
    • Mariad's Island
    • Matts Dragon
    • Dry Murder
    • All the Dead of Morne
    • The Fish
    • Shadowskin
    • Up the Mountain
    • A Man to Fear
    • A Scene of Crimes
    • The Weather Says It All.
    • Autumn Girl
    • Out of Hadra
    • The Art of Dying
  • Flash Fiction
    • Androidism
    • Walking Oddbins
    • Homecoming
    • A beach, at dawn
    • Schrodinger's Door
    • The Seagull's Return
  • Novels
    • Can of Worms
    • The Empresses Lover
  • Carbunkle Hall
  • Projects
    • The Tethane
    • A Voyage in Jade
    • The Hidden Libraries
    • Princess
  • My Best Reads
    • Best Reads 2012
    • Best Reads 2013
    • Best Reads 2014
    • Best Reads 2015
    • Best Reads 2016
    • Best Reads 2017
    • Best Reads 2018
  • Photography
  • Links
  • Contact me
  • The Reality Escape Committee

Meeting Quotas

23/7/2015

2 Comments

 
I love quotes.

I like the funny ones:

“A modest man, who has much to be modest about.” (Winston Churchill on Clement Atlee).

I like the thoughtful ones:

“I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought, and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.” (G. K. Chesterton).

The Bible is, of course, a huge resource of quotations – this, for example, is well known (though not always well understood):

“The truth will set you free.” (Jesus Christ: John 8:32).

People's last words are sometimes profound and often poignant:

“Friends applaud, the comedy is over.” (Ludwig van Beethoven).

It seems that there's a quote for every situation, a pithy phrase to express every mood. Whatever we're doing or feeling, someone's been there first and summed it up neatly.

I came across a particularly good one recently:

“Justice and mercy are the cornerstones of a correct life; justice because it is demanded by nature; and mercy because justice erodes the soul." (Tulisofala).

I don't know if you've heard of Tulisofala. She was an ancient philosopher. But it got me thinking, how important is the source of the quote? Does it matter who said it?

Of course, in some cases the quote is given extra power by the person who spoke it. Words from people who lived great lives carry special weight. As in this from Mother Teresa:

“If you judge people, you have no time to love them.”

Because of the commitment she showed to loving people throughout her life, her warning against judging them have more power. She could speak with authority on the subject.

Or what about Albert Einstein’s words:

“The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits.”

Einstein can talk about genius, since he is generally acknowledged to have been one!

But what I wondered about was this – could someone else had said these things? Suppose Einstein had talked of love and judgement, or Mother Teresa about genius and stupidity? Would these things be more or less true? Or what if some nobody (like me, for example) had said it?

Which brings me back to Tulisofala. It's likely that you haven't heard of her – but do you agree with what she said? Does it sound like something true, something important even?

And does it make any difference if I tell you that actually Tulisofala was an alien, a member of the Ashiyyur race, and that that she was invented by the Science Fiction writer Jack McDevitt? If she is not real, does that mean that those words are meaningless?

Or is wisdom an absolute thing, something that carries meaning and deserves respect no matter what its source is?

On a practical level, of course we must consider the source of our information. It would be daft to believe everything that adverts or politicians tell us, and we have to keep in mind that everyone trying to sell us something has their own agenda. But perhaps the cynicism of our culture can extend too far. Do we sometimes reject an argument because the person making it is from the wrong group, of the wrong sexual orientation, or wearing the wrong colours?

The truth sets us free, but do we filter it at source? Are we willing to consider that other people, other cultures, other races might have some truth to offer?

As Tulisofala might have said: “It is better to consider a lie than to refuse a truth.”

(She didn't. I said it.  You can quote me).

2 Comments
    Picture

    Paul Trembling

    Husband, father, dog owner, Christian, writer, and incurable daydreamer.  In no particular order of importance - they are all me.

    Welcome to my blog, where I will attempt to document my small corner of reality, and my attempts to escape from it.

    Archives

    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    January 2018
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    June 2017
    December 2016
    October 2016
    July 2016
    April 2016
    February 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    November 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012

    Categories

    All
    2012
    2013
    Best Reads
    Bible
    Bristol
    Crime
    Daily Life
    Fathers
    Film
    God
    Kindle
    Memories
    Monologue
    New Book
    Noah
    Poem
    Prayer
    Reality
    Rwanda
    Speculation
    Suffering
    Time
    Traffic
    Trinity
    Writing

    RSS Feed

    Enter your email address:

    Delivered by FeedBurner

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
Photos used under Creative Commons from h.koppdelaney, BitterScripts, psicologiaclinica, x-ray delta one, Erik Daniel Drost, jonny goldstein, guzzphoto, inkknife_2000 (5 million views), Coletivo Mambembe, Doctor_Q, tmib_seattle, Howdy, I'm H. Michael Karshis, h.koppdelaney, Menage a Moi, Click*64, Su Bee Buzz!, Susan WD, World Around Richa, h.koppdelaney, gavin.lauchlan, garrettc, polandeze, Alan Cleaver