Thursday, February 17, 2005
************************************
FOOLS AND KNAVES
***************************
George Villiers (1628-1687), English writer: "The world is made up for the most part of fools and knaves, both irreconcilable foes to truth."
*
ON TRUTH IN HISTORY
***********************************
Gerald Brenan (1894-1987), British author: "You can't get at the truth by writing history; only the novelist can do that."
*
MEMO TO A READER
***************************
I never said Armenians are the scum of the earth - only Armenians who have assessed themselves to be as infallible as the Pope, as Magnificent as Suleiman, as wise as Socrates, and as invincible in argument as David Anhaght.
*
FREE SPEECH - ARMENIAN STYLE
***************************************
Our partisans believe in free speech provided it freely consents to recycle their propaganda line.
*
FIRST CHRISTIAN NATION
*********************************
Our religion teaches us to love our enemies. Not being a preacher or a hypocrite (but I repeat myself), I would never go as far as advocating love. I would only suggest that we think of them as fellow human beings, or, if we must think of them as bloodthirsty savages, let us at least take care to feel, think, and speak like civilized beings. And if we can't do that either, let us not brag about being the first Christian nation, or a Christian island in an infidel sea. Let us allow the possibility that we too, like the rest of mankind, are capable on occasion to give in to the temptation of speaking with a forked tongue.
#
Friday, February 18, 2005
*********************************
ON BEING A GOOD CHRISTIAN
**************************************
Only after we learn to love our enemies, we may learn to love our friends. As for loving our fellow Armenians: that may take a little longer.
*
GENOCIDE GENESIS
**************************
600 years ago we gave up the struggle and said to them: "We surrender our destiny into your hands. Henceforth you shall be our masters. You may do with us what you will." And they did. And they are now outraged when we reject their version of the story. After all, who has ever heard of a slave calling his master a liar, especially if the master happens to be one?
*
ANOTHER MYTH EXPOSED
**********************************
We had the pen and they had the sword. The question we must ask is how many lives did our pen save?
*
CONFESSION
***********************
God may not always be on the side of big battalions, but in 1915 He was. Some say it was not God but the Devil. But as a disoriented skeptic myself, may I confess that I cannot always tell one from the other.
*
DEFINITIONS
*********************
An expert has been defined as one who knows more and more about less and less. By contrast, a charlatan may be defined as one who knows more and more about everything.
*
A BRIEF HISTORY OF
MODERN ARMENIAN LITERATURE
******************************************
Modern Armenian Literature has been a blood sport whose survivors may be counted on the fingers of an unarmed leper.
*
SO WHAT ELSE IS NEW?
********************************
Helder Camara (1909-1999), Brazilian priest: "When I give food to the poor they call me a saint. When I ask why the poor have no food they call me a communist." That's the way it has always been. Say "Yes, sir!" and you are a good boy. Ask questions and you are the lowest scum on earth.
*
AN UNFORGETTABLE LINE
*********************************
Albert Camus (1913-1960), French playwright, novelist, essayist and winner of the Nobel Prize: "Everyone insists on his innocence, even if it means accusing the rest of the human race and heaven."
*
APOLOGIA PRO VITA SUA
**********************************
When I speak of dupes and charlatans I speak of myself. I was a dupe once and like all dupes I engaged in charlatanism - in the name of patriotism, of course. Perhaps everything I write today is a confession and an apology.
#
Saturday, February 19, 2005
***********************************
CONFESSION
*******************
As a boy I was taught to brag about our cunning. I know now that where there is cunning, there will be dupes, and I had been one.
*
DUPES
****************
We like to say and repeat that the West deceived us. We don't say we were taken in because we were dupes, and we were dupes because, unlike our enemies, we were inexperienced in the jargon of international diplomacy and we allowed our wishful thinking to control our judgment.
*
DISAGREEMENT
***********************
Gutter is not the best place for it, neither is censorship the only answer.
*
PATRIOTISM - ARMENIAN STYLE
**************************************
Nicolas-Sebastien Chamfort (1741-1794), French writer: "Be my brother, or I kill you."
*
CENSORSHIP
***********************
It has been said that great countries produce great saints. One could also say that small countries produce petty internecine feuds. Our textbooks don't mention this because if they did they would be banned.
*
BAN THIS
******************
After visiting Turkey, a friend of mine (a well-known Armenian-American poet) wrote me a letter saying he had been surprised to discover that Turks too qualified as members of the human race and that he had found them to be more likeable than Armenians.
#
************************************
FOOLS AND KNAVES
***************************
George Villiers (1628-1687), English writer: "The world is made up for the most part of fools and knaves, both irreconcilable foes to truth."
*
ON TRUTH IN HISTORY
***********************************
Gerald Brenan (1894-1987), British author: "You can't get at the truth by writing history; only the novelist can do that."
*
MEMO TO A READER
***************************
I never said Armenians are the scum of the earth - only Armenians who have assessed themselves to be as infallible as the Pope, as Magnificent as Suleiman, as wise as Socrates, and as invincible in argument as David Anhaght.
*
FREE SPEECH - ARMENIAN STYLE
***************************************
Our partisans believe in free speech provided it freely consents to recycle their propaganda line.
*
FIRST CHRISTIAN NATION
*********************************
Our religion teaches us to love our enemies. Not being a preacher or a hypocrite (but I repeat myself), I would never go as far as advocating love. I would only suggest that we think of them as fellow human beings, or, if we must think of them as bloodthirsty savages, let us at least take care to feel, think, and speak like civilized beings. And if we can't do that either, let us not brag about being the first Christian nation, or a Christian island in an infidel sea. Let us allow the possibility that we too, like the rest of mankind, are capable on occasion to give in to the temptation of speaking with a forked tongue.
#
Friday, February 18, 2005
*********************************
ON BEING A GOOD CHRISTIAN
**************************************
Only after we learn to love our enemies, we may learn to love our friends. As for loving our fellow Armenians: that may take a little longer.
*
GENOCIDE GENESIS
**************************
600 years ago we gave up the struggle and said to them: "We surrender our destiny into your hands. Henceforth you shall be our masters. You may do with us what you will." And they did. And they are now outraged when we reject their version of the story. After all, who has ever heard of a slave calling his master a liar, especially if the master happens to be one?
*
ANOTHER MYTH EXPOSED
**********************************
We had the pen and they had the sword. The question we must ask is how many lives did our pen save?
*
CONFESSION
***********************
God may not always be on the side of big battalions, but in 1915 He was. Some say it was not God but the Devil. But as a disoriented skeptic myself, may I confess that I cannot always tell one from the other.
*
DEFINITIONS
*********************
An expert has been defined as one who knows more and more about less and less. By contrast, a charlatan may be defined as one who knows more and more about everything.
*
A BRIEF HISTORY OF
MODERN ARMENIAN LITERATURE
******************************************
Modern Armenian Literature has been a blood sport whose survivors may be counted on the fingers of an unarmed leper.
*
SO WHAT ELSE IS NEW?
********************************
Helder Camara (1909-1999), Brazilian priest: "When I give food to the poor they call me a saint. When I ask why the poor have no food they call me a communist." That's the way it has always been. Say "Yes, sir!" and you are a good boy. Ask questions and you are the lowest scum on earth.
*
AN UNFORGETTABLE LINE
*********************************
Albert Camus (1913-1960), French playwright, novelist, essayist and winner of the Nobel Prize: "Everyone insists on his innocence, even if it means accusing the rest of the human race and heaven."
*
APOLOGIA PRO VITA SUA
**********************************
When I speak of dupes and charlatans I speak of myself. I was a dupe once and like all dupes I engaged in charlatanism - in the name of patriotism, of course. Perhaps everything I write today is a confession and an apology.
#
Saturday, February 19, 2005
***********************************
CONFESSION
*******************
As a boy I was taught to brag about our cunning. I know now that where there is cunning, there will be dupes, and I had been one.
*
DUPES
****************
We like to say and repeat that the West deceived us. We don't say we were taken in because we were dupes, and we were dupes because, unlike our enemies, we were inexperienced in the jargon of international diplomacy and we allowed our wishful thinking to control our judgment.
*
DISAGREEMENT
***********************
Gutter is not the best place for it, neither is censorship the only answer.
*
PATRIOTISM - ARMENIAN STYLE
**************************************
Nicolas-Sebastien Chamfort (1741-1794), French writer: "Be my brother, or I kill you."
*
CENSORSHIP
***********************
It has been said that great countries produce great saints. One could also say that small countries produce petty internecine feuds. Our textbooks don't mention this because if they did they would be banned.
*
BAN THIS
******************
After visiting Turkey, a friend of mine (a well-known Armenian-American poet) wrote me a letter saying he had been surprised to discover that Turks too qualified as members of the human race and that he had found them to be more likeable than Armenians.
#
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