601
The people who oil the wheels of society are not the people who never give offence, they are the people who never take any.
There are those, said American essayist Ralph Waldo Emerson, who feel they can never really open up, even among their friends, for fear of offending someone. Better, he advised, to choose more robust and sympathetic listeners for your little circle. The hero of an open and accepting society is not the man who never gives offence; it is the man who never takes any.
Picture: By Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919), Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.. Source.
Posted August 5 2020
602
The man who seems frustratingly dull and awkward may shine in other company, and we owe it to him and to ourselves to read the signs.
If someone seems dull and awkward, wrote Ralph Waldo Emerson, that may simply be a warning that he is in the wrong company. We should be alert for such signs, and learn to help people find their own company and comfort zone; for forcing everyone to fit the same mould could be disastrous for them and for us.
Picture: © Chemical Engineer, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0.. Source.
Posted August 5 2020
603
If officials in the Raj ever forgot who their boss was, they would bring the whole government down about their ears.
In Kipling’s short story, Aurelian McGoggin, a British bureaucrat, has been boring everyone in Shimla with his conviction that there is neither God nor Hereafter, so we can only worry along somehow for the good of Humanity. In a tongue-in-cheek aside, Kipling gave a Raj-shaped twist to an argument that had been made by political thinkers from Moses to Alexis de Tocqueville.
Picture: © Maxwell Hamilton, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0 Generic.. Source.
Posted August 4 2020
604
A man begs the mighty Heracles to save him the effort of despatching a flea.
Like the Fable of Heracles and the Waggoner, this is a tale about doing all you can before asking for help. Sir Roger L’Estrange, however, took it further. Mindful of the secularism gaining ground in English society, he said the story was a warning to those who give up on religion when trivial matters do not go their way.
Picture: Photo by Wolfgang Rieger. From Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.. Source.
Posted August 3 2020
605
A scrawny wolf listens enviously as a well-fed dog describes the comforts of home, but a flat patch of fur on the dog’s neck worries him.
Many Aesop’s Fables tell of a Wolf and a Dog, and many of them also address the question of liberty and the value we place on it. In this story, hunger has driven a sorry-looking Wolf to work for his keep, but he has not lost his wits and his sharp little eyes spot something that calls for an explanation.
Picture: © Alexey Komarov, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0.. Source.
Posted August 2 2020
606
Heracles refuses to come to the aid of man who is perfectly able to help himself.
This little tale has popularised the expression ‘put one’s shoulder to the wheel.’ A waggoner gets into difficulties, and begs heavenly help. All right and proper so far, said Sir Roger l’Estrange, but it wouldn’t do any harm to give it a push too...
Picture: By John Constable (1776–1837), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.. Source.
Posted August 2 2020