Luke DR

Opinions, Flights and Wandering Thoughts...

The great 19th-century American orator William Jennings Bryan said: "Destiny is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice; it is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved." Live, fight, strive, create your own destiny, grab it by the throat and never let go.

It takes failure to render some men modest, and it is modesty that renders others failures.

"All children are born artists, the problem is to remain an artist as we grow up” – attributed to Pablo Picasso. Indeed family expectations, formal education, employment, relationships, they mercilessly beat creativity out of all but the most obstinate fools, who become artists in spite of pressure to conform and fear of what the neighbours might think. Because when you're climbing Mount Parnassus, it may get chilly and lonely up there but at least there are no fucking neighbours.

There are two types of romantic relationship that never work: long-distance, and close-by.

Orwell's denunciation of unclear language in politics is well known, but another key example of linguistic obfuscation and poor language skills having a gigantic impact is how the modern media have spun (a) 'in the public interest' as being the same as (b) 'interesting to the public'. To anyone with ten seconds to think and discern, the two categories are in no way identical. But instead the salacious, quasi-libellous, kiss-and-tell, mud-slinging tabloid story about an unfortunate celebrity who has been caught doing something naughty but in no way illegal - which is (b) - has been accepted as being (a) for far too long.

As nice a principle as it is, if everyone turned the other cheek, there would be lots of people with lots of facial bruises.

No man should fear the truth. He may have grounds, however, to fear the hatred, ridicule, scorn, prejudice, envy and condemnation that often accompany the truth when it is spread. Bring it on.

The biblical prodigal son, Constantine, St. Augustine, King Henry V… How easy it is to live recklessly now, enjoying all the pleasures that recklessness and indulgence can offer, and only later convert to virtue, sure of obtaining forgiveness once you have had your fun. That is what anyone would do if they had any sense. Oh Lord, make me virtuous… but not yet, there’s plenty of time for that later.

Pretty women live by their tits, average ones live by their wits.

Conviction is believing something passionately for a reason. Faith is believing something passionately in spite of reason. Both have their uses.

Sometimes I wonder whether I missed a memo about making accusations without sufficient connection, where there was a contribution but blame cannot rationally be attributed with a straight face. E.g. Voltaire for the Terror, Wagner for the horrors of the Holocaust, Fermi for the Cold War, Columbus for the expropriation of the Native Americans and for slavery in the New World, John Logie-Baird for the low standard of television programs on offer today, the first Neanderthal to pick up a weapon for every war that has taken place since. It may be idiotic, but I suppose it passes the time.