for the achievement of a higher goal, The Mechanics of Virtue, aphorism 286

286 We are tempted to measure our Faith in ourselves by what we are “willing to sacrifice.” However, it could very well be that our highest goal requires that we not sacrifice our favorite things, precious relationships, or pleasant activities ... but indulge in them. For example, we might even find an acquisition and not a sacrifice when we indulge in the highest pride consequent of enmity. A boxer who takes a punch in order to get inside and give a punch has superior stamina and ability than the boxer who only baits himself with the “will to sacrifice” ... to “take the pain.” The former takes pride in his ability to defeat the rival and wants to prove this ability so badly that he does not care about or feel any pain in having his cheek turned once or twice before he achieves his goal. He turns his cheek, for his pride. Likewise a man might accept a slight without retribution, but not to prove any capacity for sacrifice, but for the achievement of a higher goal. He measures his Faith by the value of that in which he chooses to indulge, and his sacrifices are only incidental.

Popular posts from this blog

A valuable book, A Human Strategy, aphorism 387

387 A valuable book may be torn to pieces without diminishing the human spirit, just so long as the words have already been read and understood.  To feel the loss of the book — at its material destruction, even though one had already digested its contents fully and had aligned oneself toward its overall direction — is evidence that one values the non-human being over human becoming , the static thing over the dynamic process .  In response to the fear of our unknowable future we would rather freeze ourselves into a single stage of growth at the expense of the entire metamorphosis. A Human Strategy ** The Mechanics of Virtue ** Post-Atheism
Read more
A benefactor's Moral Guide: what do you want that will not result in your ultimate dishonor?      ****    Meditation: "How do I get back to where I want to be?"
Read more

A theory of art

Interest is not in what you see. It’s in what you don’t see. It is sensed incompleteness completed reflexively by the spectator. It is a conflict in the otherwise imperceptible feeling that a sensory organ is “inadequate” … a mastery of scratching irritations, an “I” … “the” I. We love art the most when we scratch ourselves with what we view.  Art is valued at the interest that the passion from the incompletes in the work is instantly and successful satisfied by what the lover needs to sense … every time it senses the art.  A Human Strategy ** The Mechanics of Virtue ** Post-Atheism
Read more