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Thursday, April 23, 2009
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ON SHRINKS
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After the composition of his First Piano Concerto, Rachmaninoff is said to have experienced a crisis during which he became convinced he had lost his creative impetus permanently. But after seeing a psychiatrist he recovered his creativity and composed his Second Piano Concerto, or so we are told by his biographers. What we are not told is that if he had not seen a shrink, maybe he would have composed nine symphonies. Marlon Brando was under constant psychiatric care and instead of getting better, he got worse, in addition to making an unholy mess of his private life and his physique. Neither Tolstoy nor Dostoevsky were ever treated by a shrink, and my guess is, their problems were worse than Rachmaninoff's and Brando's combined.
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Once upon a time, in the Middle Ages, we were celebrated for being good fighters. We still are, but only against the wrong enemy: ourselves.
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I write for two totally non-literary reasons: to fight boredom and to acquire friends; and with every book I have published, I have acquired a new friend; also (alas!) twenty-two enemies.
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There is no evidence to suggest that the average Christian, Hindu, Buddhist, Muslim, or xxx is a better human being than the average agnostic or atheist. Which amounts to saying: all organized religions are more or less alike and very often they succeed only in legitimizing prejudice, promoting a false sense of moral superiority, and dehumanizing a fraction of mankind with such labels as pagans, heretics, infidels or giaours.
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Friday, April 24, 2009
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ARMENIAN MANIFESTO
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What choice did we have under the Ottomans and the Soviets?
Wrong question.
When we had a choice, we failed to present a united front to the enemy.
And what made our enemies invincible was their solidarity.
Let's not lose sight of that fundamental fact, which our dividers do their utmost to cover up in order to appear
(a) to be blameless, and
(b) to continue dividing us.
Blameless?
Why do you think General Antranik wanted to see them hanged from the nearest tree?
Why do you think Zarian called them “cannibals”?
And please,don't tell me our sermonizers, speechifiers, and Turcocentric ghazetajis know better than Zarian, the General, and Charents, whose final “Message” mentions neither Turks nor Russians.
Let's not have any illusions about our men at the top, who like Wall Street chief executive officers, care more about their powers and privileges than the welfare of the nation. Which is why, at the risk of repeating myself, I will say again:
Armenians of the world unite, you have nothing to lose but your dividers.
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Saturday, April 25, 2009
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MAXIMS AND REFLECTIONS
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It is not easy writing for readers who already know everything they need to know, even if what they really know happens to be recycled mumbo jumbo.
*
Work hard, but not too hard: you may be digging your own grave.
*
Authority thrives on ignorance. Where there are leaders (as opposed to public servants) there will be spin doctors, cover-up artists, an uninformed community, and dupes.
*
From nature’s point of view, chastity is a far more dangerous sexual perversion than all the others combined.
*
Venetian saying: "The priest’s friend loses his faith, the doctor’s his health, the lawyer’s his fortune."
*
Schopenhauer: "We pay an attention to the opinion of others which is out of all proportion to its value."
*
When midgets are in charge, giants become outlaws.
#
********************************************
ON SHRINKS
************************************************
After the composition of his First Piano Concerto, Rachmaninoff is said to have experienced a crisis during which he became convinced he had lost his creative impetus permanently. But after seeing a psychiatrist he recovered his creativity and composed his Second Piano Concerto, or so we are told by his biographers. What we are not told is that if he had not seen a shrink, maybe he would have composed nine symphonies. Marlon Brando was under constant psychiatric care and instead of getting better, he got worse, in addition to making an unholy mess of his private life and his physique. Neither Tolstoy nor Dostoevsky were ever treated by a shrink, and my guess is, their problems were worse than Rachmaninoff's and Brando's combined.
*
Once upon a time, in the Middle Ages, we were celebrated for being good fighters. We still are, but only against the wrong enemy: ourselves.
*
I write for two totally non-literary reasons: to fight boredom and to acquire friends; and with every book I have published, I have acquired a new friend; also (alas!) twenty-two enemies.
*
There is no evidence to suggest that the average Christian, Hindu, Buddhist, Muslim, or xxx is a better human being than the average agnostic or atheist. Which amounts to saying: all organized religions are more or less alike and very often they succeed only in legitimizing prejudice, promoting a false sense of moral superiority, and dehumanizing a fraction of mankind with such labels as pagans, heretics, infidels or giaours.
#
Friday, April 24, 2009
********************************************
ARMENIAN MANIFESTO
************************************************
What choice did we have under the Ottomans and the Soviets?
Wrong question.
When we had a choice, we failed to present a united front to the enemy.
And what made our enemies invincible was their solidarity.
Let's not lose sight of that fundamental fact, which our dividers do their utmost to cover up in order to appear
(a) to be blameless, and
(b) to continue dividing us.
Blameless?
Why do you think General Antranik wanted to see them hanged from the nearest tree?
Why do you think Zarian called them “cannibals”?
And please,don't tell me our sermonizers, speechifiers, and Turcocentric ghazetajis know better than Zarian, the General, and Charents, whose final “Message” mentions neither Turks nor Russians.
Let's not have any illusions about our men at the top, who like Wall Street chief executive officers, care more about their powers and privileges than the welfare of the nation. Which is why, at the risk of repeating myself, I will say again:
Armenians of the world unite, you have nothing to lose but your dividers.
#
Saturday, April 25, 2009
********************************************
MAXIMS AND REFLECTIONS
************************************************
It is not easy writing for readers who already know everything they need to know, even if what they really know happens to be recycled mumbo jumbo.
*
Work hard, but not too hard: you may be digging your own grave.
*
Authority thrives on ignorance. Where there are leaders (as opposed to public servants) there will be spin doctors, cover-up artists, an uninformed community, and dupes.
*
From nature’s point of view, chastity is a far more dangerous sexual perversion than all the others combined.
*
Venetian saying: "The priest’s friend loses his faith, the doctor’s his health, the lawyer’s his fortune."
*
Schopenhauer: "We pay an attention to the opinion of others which is out of all proportion to its value."
*
When midgets are in charge, giants become outlaws.
#
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