You should too as there is often a certain harkening back in his words to when the citizens of this country had no illusions about what was right and what was wrong.
I thought this was a perfect example of what I am talking about.
A note A couple of generations ago forthrightness was expected, every day, in every thing. It was a measure of maturity. Nobody got away with mushmouth spin, everyone kept to the simple truth as they knew it or they got eased out of adult society and sat at the kid's table come Thanksgiving. We owe each other our true thoughts in a straightforward way. We don't have to be right but we do have to be honest. Absent that, we devolve into frillery and artifice. This notion is mostly past tense now, as confirmed by political correctness—social anesthesia if you will. But there are those who carry on, convinced by experience that optimism is warranted only if you see things as they are, or close enough. They carry on not as a heroic mission mind you, it's just the way they are. We'll not name names here, they know who they are, it's a small club.
3 comments:
Can't think of anymore who I enjoy reading more.
I enjoy reading his blog as well. Good point about its less about being right than being honest. Honest requires humility which sez 'I don't know it all'. Its surprising to find how much you thought you knew was completely false. We're human and make mistakes - what is wrong with owning up to that ?
Indeed.
Lee Quotes
http://www.namsouth.com/viewtopic.php?t=108&highlight=humble
The forbearing use of power does not only form a touchstone, but the manner in which an individual enjoys certain advantages over others is a test of a true gentleman.
The power which the strong have over the weak, the employer over the employed, the educated over the unlettered, the experienced over the confiding, even the clever over the silly—the forbearing or inoffensive use of all this power or authority, or a total abstinence from it when the case admits it, will show the gentleman in a plain light.
The gentleman does not needlessly and unnecessarily remind an offender of a wrong he may have committed against him. He cannot only forgive, he can forget; and he strives for that nobleness of self and mildness of character which impart sufficient strength to let the past be but the past.
A true man of Honor feels humble himself when he cannot help humbling others.
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