If ignorance is bliss,
‘Tis folly to be wise.
~ Thomas Gray (1716-1771)
Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard
Friday, April 17, 2015
12 comments:
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Two important stanzas from Gray's masterful poem (Not that the entire poem doesn't offer many gems of wisdom!):
ReplyDeleteThe boast of heraldry, the pomp of pow'r,
And all that beauty, all that wealth e'er gave,
Awaits alike th' inevitable hour.
The paths of glory lead but to the grave.
and
Full many a gem of purest ray serene,
The dark unfathom'd caves of ocean bear:
Full many a flow'r is born to blush unseen,
And waste its sweetness on the desert air.
I well remember when we studied this poem back in the Stone Age when I was in school. The poem was in one of our McGuffey readers.
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There is something wonderfully peaceful and comforting about wandering among the grave markers in most cemeteries. At least, for me.
As for ignorance is bliss, that is certainly true about keeping up with the news. I find the 24/7 news cycle enervating in the extreme! Still, I can't stop myself from keeping up with the news.
ReplyDeleteBeware of letting yourself get trapped in the self-destructive pattern known as an Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.
DeleteEvery one of us should keep the Serenity Prayer in mind, and apply it constantly lest we become ill, and possibly even die from sheer vexation.
When there is nothing we can do to ameliorate a bad situation, it's best to walk away from it, and concentrate on some constructive task we CAN perform.
FT,
DeleteBeware of letting yourself get trapped in the self-destructive pattern known as an Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.
Finding the balance between OCD and being an informed citizen is a difficult task, one with blurred lines.
BATHING in Bad News 'round the clock is just not a good for one's health.
Delete" ... Just think of lovely things, and your heart will fly on wings ..."
~ Peter Pan
"Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report, think on these things. ..."
~ St. Paul
from the Frankfurt School:
ReplyDeleteMarcuse (One Dimensional Man) quoting from Freud, "Happiness is no cultural value. Happiness must be subordinated to the discipline of work... to the discipline of monogamous reproduction... the methodological sacrifice of libido is culture."
Why bring THAT up? It doesn't sound characteristic of either individual. Marcuse, regardless of this odd quotation, dedicated his life to destroying the concept of self-discpline, discouraging devotion to duty, deriding humility, mocking and denigrating faith in anything more significant than Self and the fulfillment of hedonistic urges.
DeleteBoth men despised Christianity and did their best to discredit and undermine the message of the Gospels and of St. Paul in particular.
FT,
Delete"Even a stopped clock is right twice a day."
"Even a blind squirrel finds an acorn once on a while."
Why? Because it supports the contention that ignorance IS bliss (happiness).
DeleteFor some reason, that quote called to my mind this one from Shakespeare's Twelfth Night:
ReplyDelete"Better a witty fool than a foolish wit"
We are spilling over with foolish wits.
AND witless fools.
DeleteBeautiful pictures, FT.
ReplyDeleteHelen Highwater