Maxims and Introspections

Into my second week of non smoking and I spent the night reading La Rochefoucauld's Maxims and Reflections. The author was a seventeenth century aristocrat who came to believe that we are utterly and hopelessly ruled by self-love. While his glaring insights into the the human soul seem, for the most part, to be accurate, I find myself refraining from wholly adopting his deeply cynical mindset. This is a good book for anyone approaching a career on the stage, I think, because it helps the reader to view praise in the proper light. The duke explains, quite rightly, that praise for another is ultimately an expression of self-love. It is a person's reward handed out for confirming some attribute he sees in himself first. When you wear a band on your shirt, for instance, you are really saying that you are like that band more than that you like it. (Actually, I stumbled on this truth a long time ago, but I never bothered to write about it. On second thought, that line about wearing a band on your shirt strikes me as familiar from my past posts.) If stars could only keep this thought in mind when they are being cheered by crowds, they might not become so deluded that they would believe their fans would support them in the act of committing fraud. But praise is still nice, isn't it? Even though I'm aware of praise's source, I would still enjoy being praised for my work. There's good advice for aging stars in his book, as well: the most dangerous folly in elderly people who have once been attractive is to forget that they are no longer so; the vivacity which increases in old age is not far removed from folly; few know how to be old; and old fools are more foolish than young fools... He obviously thought about it at length. Love, too, says the author, is more beneficial to the giver than to the recipient. It feels good to fall in love; it's like a pleasant drug trip. It feels good to lose oneself in the admiration of another person. On the other hand, those who receive this kind of attention very often find it a nuisance. Much of what he had to say is true, but I'm not sure he thought it through far enough in places. For instance, he says - in his own words - that reason places unfortunate limits on happiness and ambition. He is right; euphoria is a state of total abandon, and he criticizes moderation as a kind of ogre that suppresses us. But if we all let go of our moral restraint to follow him to bliss, we'd end up with a world submerged in chaos, which would please no one. So moderation is actually more of a wise compromise than an ogre. And he says that he is wise who is nettled (irritated) at nothing. Did he mean to say that wisdom provides comfort from troubling thoughts? What about troubling wisdom? I find that the wiser I grow with knowledge of the crimes committed with my work, the more nettled I become, so I think he is totally wrong on this point. I also encountered a few small semantic shortcomings in his work. According to him, humility is often a feigned submission which we employ to supplant others. No, it is not. That is obsequiousness, not humility. I would have written instead, do not confuse humility for obsequiousness. And again in his maxim, pity is often a relocation of our own evils in the ills of others - - - we help others that on like occasions we may be helped ourselves, I would rather warn my reader to not confuse pity for fear based sympathy. If he wanted to utterly do away with, or at least radically redefine, the concepts of humility and pity, then I suppose his phrasing is sufficient, but I think that is a rather destructive goal, even if they are qualities to which we are largely incapable of aspiring. I still think that this is a good work because it smashes hypocrisy and, above all, forces its reader to a pattern of introspection. I won't let quitting smoking go to my head or expect any praise for it because now I have read that when our vices leave us, we flatter ourselves with the idea we have left them. It reminds me that I was silly enough to start smoking in the first place and that there is no real praise due for merely correcting a fault. With respect to another thought from this sage, in which he credits fortune over virtue for most of our good, I might say that I have not conquered my vice at all, for I still pine for the evil comfort of a puff and am only quitting because of my advancing age. This is the kind of effect that Christ would likely be pleased with, I think, one which keeps my feet firmly on the ground and steers me away from self-deceit and hypocrisy. 11:30am I have more to add to this post but must leave to get something to eat first. 12:44pm I've reread up to the point I have left off and I do indeed think I am safe from self-deceit and hypocrisy, but certainly not from vanity. Vanity is a favorite target of La Rochefoucauld's maxims. The more you ponder them, the more vanity you see in your life. Why did I initially share my music and art and writing on the web? Vanity. Yes, that is why. I figured I was doing you all a favor by telling you what I thought and sharing my creations with you. I had not the slightest altruism in my heart at that time, really. However, once I learned that there were fans who depended on me for a laugh or a song, I think my actions became more selfless. And in order to save large numbers from being deceived to their hearts by the ten years of fraud committed with my work by major stars, I must continue with my posting, whatever my true motives. I'd like to list the remaining maxims from this book which resonated strongest with me now and attach a little personal note to each. The moderation of those who are happy arises from the calm which good fortune bestows upon their temper. People who have good jobs and comfortable lives are more polite and civil than I am. The moderation of men at their greatest height is only a desire to appear greater than their fortune. A US president may wish to revel in his superiority but avoids doing so, in order to sustain the approval of the population. The evil that we do does not attract to us so much hatred and persecution as our good qualities. I am most hated for my talent. If we had no faults we should not take so much pleasure in noting those of others. As the Lord said, look not for the speck in your brother's eye, but take the log from your own. If we had no pride we should not complain of that of others. We find the pride of our neighbor unbearable while we wallow in our own. Sincerity is an openness of heart; we find it in very few people; what we usually see is only an artful dissimulation to win the confidence of others. I think I have been very open with my heart in front of the world. And I think those stars and broadcasters used the apparent sincerity of my work to deceive the world for profit. Truth does not do as much good in the world, as its counterfeits do evil. The harm done by plagiarizing my work outweighs the truths my work were meant to express. If we judge of love by the majority of its results, it rather resembles hatred than friendship. I may suffer a miserable life more for being loved than hated. We do not give our hearts away for the good we wish to do, but for that we expect to receive. I'm still waiting for my orgy. Great names degrade instead of elevating those who know not how to sustain them. Who's the greatest rock and roll band in the world? Whomever that is will be headed for a downfall at some point - if not already - because such a lofty title is unsustainable. As for the greatest band in history, I think most are agreed that that would be the Beatles, who broke up at the peak of their fame. To understand matters rightly we should understand their details, and as that knowledge is almost infinite, our knowledge is always superficial and imperfect. People fly off the handle, including myself, before seeing the whole picture. The fame of great men ought always to be estimated by the means used to acquire it. Treachery diminishes stardom. The world oftener rewards the appearance of merit than merit itself. Whoever looks good on TV gets the reward, regardless of their merit. The desire to appear clever often prevents our being so. Please don't try to make a pun out of the first thing you see. Perfect valour is to do without witnesses what one would do before the whole world. Witnesses give us a purpose for our valor. Some disguised lies so resemble truth that we should judge badly, were we not deceived. The rock radio was right to praise my music - even in the hands of frauds. Those only are despicable who fear to be despised. The corporate media prove this to me every day they let pass without admitting their fault in crimes with my work. No people are more often wrong than those who will not allow themselves to be wrong. Leads me to the same thought as immediately preceding. Ridicule dishonours more than dishonour itself. I may have provoked a backlash in 2007 for writing and sharing such effective parodies. This still does not excuse my enemies for plagiarizing me. We admit small faults to persuade others that we have not great ones. Bless me, father, for I have sinned...I once coveted my neighbour's dog... Most young people think they are natural when they are only boorish and rude. Take a look at some of the comments on my YouTube videos - if you can see them. We may bestow advice, but we cannot inspire the conduct. From the outset, I have advised people to avoid plagiarizing my content. There may be talent without position, but there is no position without talent. This is an even better comeback for that billboard slogan that said: We're in the business of music for business. Talent is very foolishly undervalued by this money culture, especially by the authors of that slogan. Some bad qualities form great talents. My 2006 and 2007 temper tantrums, so bitter that I felt I needed to erase them soon after sharing them, formed a hilarious stand-up routine for George Carlin. The most certain sign of being born with great qualities is to be born without envy. If you sense greatness in yourself, you will feel no inclination to envy others. Our envy always lasts longer than the happiness of those we envy. In my case, as envy's victim, my assailants' envy may outlast my very life. No fools so wearisome as those who have some wit. Is Davelies a funny sketch? Sometimes we meet a fool with wit; never one with understanding. Ultimately, the wit of fools is insufficient to spare them from being rejected. We should gain more by letting the world see what we are, than by trying to seem what we are not. When you try to seem what you are not, you may advance on the outside, but you retreat on the inside. Innocence is most fortunate if it finds the same protection as crime. This is both true and hilarious.
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