This second group of remixed proverbs are skewed even more towards humor and satire; and push the reader to view things from a different angle; or in a different way. For a healthy intelligence: Rote won’t float the boat.
The definition of insanity is thinking the same thing over and over, and thinking the same thing over and over.
These remixed proverbs are intended to shake up the rote repetition and involve the reader in thinking about the true beauty of human perception and wisdom that classic proverbs embody. At the same time, I would like the reader to use that expanded awareness to view things from a different angle; or in a different way.
“It’s your excuses that define you.” That should be the touchstone for “action distancing” in the New Millennium Normal. You’re not doing something bad to someone; you’re making a better future for yourself [or more hypocritically: “your family/gender/race/everyone”]. “You’re owed it” is a well that never runs dry — as long as you keep filling it.
Interestingly, every famous icon of human compassion, dignity, and equality is uncompromisingly opposed to discriminatory action in any form. This is a common thread from Confucius to Lincoln to Frederick Douglass to Martin Luther King Jr. to Mother Teresa . . .
Or you can stand with those who excuse their actions and oppression: Hitler, Stalin, Mao . . .
So maybe your excuses can define you after all.
I was originally going to have several answers to this riddle and additional text; but I decided to leave more room for coloring — and thinking.
The government tandem tractor trailer with a difference: One part health center – One part organ harvester — coming to a municipal parking lot near you. No need to sugar coat the invitation; it’s your duty. And they know where you live.
Yesterday, while the Coronavirus Pandemic is devastating New York, state regulators announced that they were giving the best connected of the lake pollution “players” a permit that deleted the schedule of compliance for Total Phosphorus, and eliminated the schedules and conditions of the recently completed Lake Water Quality Plan. The timing of this deregulation was either very bad — or very good. Smart corporations know how to take advantage of the downturns as well as the upturns.
How is government using the Pandemic where you live?
The “twist” in this case is the political remix given to the quotes. The nicest thing about a remix is that you start with something that is already of known quality — this is the reason there are series that are spun off of a successful movie based on an earlier “prequel” TV show with the characters from a trio of hit movies from the previous decade [It’s also easier to get backing – “If it ain’t broke; remake it.”]
The same technique can be observed in politics: remix what has proven successful in the past at gaining votes and backing.
The producers of one reality show about logging asked the owner to have more equipment breakdowns and dangerous situations to make it more exciting for viewers. How much reality is there in today’s “reality”?
How much equality is there in today’s “equality”?
You can always go back to the well as long as someone keeps filling it. What’s the reality of this action?
Abraham Lincoln is like a friend who always gives you good advice. It’s not just the humanity and wisdom of what he says; I feel that every word comes from the heart. It’s a rare gift in any time or place.
I took these ten Benjamin Franklin quotes and used them to illustrate both the universality of human behavior and their usefulness as a touchstone in understanding politics.
Politics is all about people – Numbers in politics are always an afterthought; used to convince a public brought up on the pseudoscience of pie charts and percentages. [That the same basic data can be used to support widely differing conclusions is common knowledge, and usage, among corporate report writers.]
Like the Mark Twain quotes; once again, there is an insight into human nature that overrides the “issues” that are used to distract us.
Since human nature is universal and unchanging: why does our bureaucracy continue to get more complicated? Why indeed.
These Mark Twain quotes are very much to the point and worth thinking about; and coloring and doodling are good ways to let the mind wander into some productive thinking territory.
I’ve decided to add pieces and maybe a section the book to results of research into the use of visual imagery to promote creative and innovative thought. This “qualitative thinking” is based on my belief that art and ideas occupy the same area of the mind; and that the most productive thinking can be done “in situ.”
Work on the Idea Enhancement Project has been pushed to the back while I’ve been writing these books, and this will give me a chance to share the results so far and keep moving forward.
