Book - Where men win glory
Who among mortal men are you, good friend? Since never before have I seen you in the fighting where men win glory, yet now you have come striding far out in front of all others in your great heart… - Homer, The Iliad
Earlier times may not have understood it any better than we do, but they weren’t as embarassed to name it: the life force or spark thought close to divine. It is not. Instead, it’s something that makes those who have it fully human, and those who don’t look like sleep walkers… It isn’t enough to make someone heroic, but without it any hero will be forgotten. Rousseat called it force of soul; Arendt called it love of the world. It’s the foundation of eros; you may call it charisma. Is it a gift of the gods, or something that has to be earned? Watching such people, you will sense that it’s both: given like perfect pitch, or grace, that no one can deserve or strive for, and captured like the greatest of prizes it is. Having it makes people think more, see more, feel more. More intensely, more keenly, more loudly if you like; but not more in the way of the gods. On the contrary, next to heroes like Odysseus and Penelope, the gods seem oddly flat. They are bigger, of course, and they live forever, but their presence seems diminished… The gods of The Odyssey aren’t alive, just immortal; and with immortality most of the qualities we cherish become pointless. With nothing to risk, the gods need no courage. - Susan Neiman, Moral Clarity
War is always about betrayal, betrayal of the yound by the old, of idealists by cynics and of troops by politicians - Chris Hedges, A culture of Atrocity
I love him who does not hold back one drop of spirit for himself, but wants to be entirely the spirit of his virtue: thus he strides over the bridge as spirit.
I love him who makes his virtue his addiction and his catastrophy: for his virtue’s sake he wants to live on and to live no longer.
- Friedrich Nietzsche, Thus Spoke Zarathustra
He who learns must suffer. And even in our sleep pain that cannot forget, falls drop by drop by drop upon the heart, and in our own despite, against our will, comes wisdom to us by the awful grace of God. - Aeschylus, Agamemnon
“… But you, Achilles, there’s not a man in the world more best than you - there never has been, never will be one. Time was, when you were alive, we Argives honored you as a god, and now down here, I see, you lord it over the dead in all your power. So grieve no more at dying, great Achilles.”
I reassured the ghost, but he broke out, protesting, “No winning words about death to be, shining Odysseus! By god, I’d rather slave on earth for another man- some dirt-poor tenant farmer who scrapes to keep alive- than rule down here over all the breathless dead…”
- Homer, The Odyssey
If there is one thing certain about stress, and about despair, it is that it will inevitably show who yu really are. To not let the despair and stress reveal anything ugly about you is an amazing thing.
Is vision and follow-through enough? How important is talent and blind luck? There are no true answers, just shades of grey, coincidence, and circumstance.
Passion is what makes life interesting, what ignites our soul, drives our curiosity, fuels our love and carries our friendships, stimulates our intellect, and pushed our limits. A passion for life is contagious and uplifting. Passion cuts both ways. Those that make you feel on top of the world are equally able to turn it upside down. In my life, I want to create passion in my own life and with those I care for. I want to feel, experience, and live every emotion. I will suffer through the bad for the heights of the good.
Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Self Reliance.
The truth of war is not always easy. The truth is always more heroic than the hype.
You are not who you are at your worst moment. You can always turn your life around and become quite an honorable person.
Parents need to emphasize to kids that whining is not acceptable behavior.
Good intentions are not enough to ensure a positive outcome. We need to learn about the perils of acting rashly, without first considering potential consequences.
To experience personal growth, you have to be willing to take calculated risks.
“Often I am so disgusted with the people I’m surrounded with that my heart fills with hate. I’ve been exposed to an element of people that can be worse than any I’ve encountered, including in Juvenile Hall. They’re resentful, ungrateful, lazy, weak, and unvirtuous, as often as not. They bicker, complain, lie, tell tall tales, mope, and grumble incessantly…”
Pat had in fact made his wishes known explicitly in this regard, and had clearly stated his views on religion, life, and death on several occasions as well. During his time on earth, he wrote in his journal while serving in Iraq, he wanted “to do good, influence lives, show truth and right.” He believed it was important to have “faith in oneself” and to aspire to “a general goodness free of religious pretensions… I’ve never feared death per se, or really given a shit what happens ‘after.’ I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it. My concerns have to do with the ’now’ and becoming the man I envision… I think I understand that religious faith which makes the holy brave and strong; my strength is just somewhere else - it’s in myself… I do not fear what may await me, though I’m equally confident that nothing awaits.”
“The last man” was a derisive term coined by Friedrich Nietzsche in his overstuffed masterwork, Thus Spoke Zarathustra. In Nietzsche’s estimation, according to Francis Fukuyama, modern liberal democracies produced men composed entirely of desire and reason, clever at finding new ways to satisfy a host of petty wants through the calculation of long-term self-interest… It is not an accident that people in democratic societies are preoccupied with material gain and live in an economic world devoted to the satisfaction of the myriad small needs of the body… The last man at the end of history knows better than to risk his life for a cause, because he recognizes that history was full of pointless battles in which men fought over whether they should be Christian or Muslim, Protestant or Catholic, German or French. The loyalties that drove men to desperate acts of courage and sacrifice were proven by subsequent history to be silly prejudices. Men with modern educations were content to sit at home, congratulating themselves on their broadmindedness and lack of fanaticism.
Mocking these contemptible “last men”, Nietzsche’s Zarathustra famously declares, “Thus you stick out your chests - but alas, they are hollow!” Which prompted Fukuyama to label such milquetoasts “men without chests.”
In Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Nietzsche introduced the concept of the Ubermensch: an exemplary, transcendent figure who is the polar opposite of “the last man” or “men without chests.” The Ubermensch is virtuous, loyal, ambitious and outspoken, disdainful of religious dogma and suspicious of received wisdom, intensely engaged in the hurly-burly of the real world. Above all he is passionate, a connoisseur of both “the highest joys” and “the deepest sorrows.” He believes in the moral imperative to defend (with his life, if necessary) ideals such as truth, beauty, honor, and justice. He is self-assured. He is a risk taker. He regards suffering as salutary, and scorns the path of least resistance.
The family creed needs to impart into children an overarching sense of values that included a belief in the transcendent importance of continually striving to better oneself - intellectually, morally, and physically.