Passion, Wisdom and Courage

[manitou]

From The Importance of Living, 1939 - by Lin Yutang (Tao translator)

 

"It is unfortunately true that this matter of passion, or still better, sentiment, is something born in us, and that as we cannot choose our parents, we are born with a given cold or warm nature. On the other hand, no child is born with a really cold heart, and it is only in proportion as we lose that youthful heart that we lose the inner warmth in ourselves. Somewhere in our adult life, our sentimental nature is killed, strangled, chilled or atrophied by an unkind surrounding, largely through our own fault in neglecting to keep it alive, or our failure to keep clear of such surroundings. In the process of learning "world experience," there is many a violence done to our original nature, when we learn to harden ourselves, to be artificial, and often to be cold-hearted and cruel, so that as one prides oneself upon gaining more and more worldly experience, his nerves become more and more insensitive and benumbed--especially in the world of politics and commerce. As a result, we get the great "go-getter" pushing himself forward to the top and brushing everybody aside; we get the man of iron will and strong determination, with the last embers of sentiment, which he calls foolish idealism or sentimentality, gradually dying out in his breast. It is that sort of person who is beneath my contempt. The world has too many cold-hearted people. If sterilization of the unfit should be carried out as a state policy, it should begin with sterilizing the morally insensible, the artistically stale, the heavy of heart, the ruthlessly successful, the cold-heartedly determined and all those people who have lost the sense of fun in life -- rather than the insane and the victims of tuberculosis...."

 

"....But life is harsh, and a man with a warm, generous and sentimental nature may be easily taken in by his cleverer fellowman. The generous in nature often make mistakes by their generosity, by their too generous regard of their enemies and faith in their friends. Sometimes the generous man comes home disillusioned to write a poem of bitterness. That is the case of many a poet and scholar in China, as for instance that great tea-drinker, Chang Tai, who generously squandered his fortune, was betrayed by his own closest friends and relatives, and set down in twelve poems some of the bitterest verses I have ever read. But I have a suspicion that he kept on being generous to the end of his days, even when he was quite poor and destitute, being many times on the verge of starvation, and I have no doubt that those bitter sentiments passed away like a cloud and he was still quite happy.

 

"Nevertheless this warm generosity of soul has to be protected against life by a philosophy, because life is harsh, warmth of soul is not enough, and passion must be joined to wisdom and courage. To me wisdom and courage are the same thing, for courage is born of an understanding of life; he who completely understands life is always brave. Anyway that type of wisdom which does not give us courage is not worth having at all. Wisdom leads to courage by exercising a veto against our foolish ambitions and emancipating us from the fashionable humbug of this world, whether humbug of thought or humbug of life."

Edited November 15, 2010 by manitou

[Marblehead]

Thanks for sharing that!

 

I love that man! He is so 'real'.

[3bob]

Some tough and true insights... but then the author falls hard and deep into a hell of his own making reflected in his words with:

 

"...It is that sort of person who is beneath my contempt. The world has too many cold-hearted people. If sterilization of the unfit should be carried out as a state policy, it should begin with sterilizing the morally insensible, the artistically stale, the heavy of heart, the ruthlessly successful, the cold-heartedly determined and all those people who have lost the sense of fun in life -- rather than the insane and the victims of tuberculosis...."

 

Lao Tzu speaks far wiser than this, as in chapter 74:

 

"...Is not the Great Executor always there to kill?

To do the killing for the Great Executor

Is to chop wood for a master carpenter,

And you would be lucky indeed if you did not hurt

your own hand!"

[Marblehead]

But Bob,

 

The Great Executor does not always do her job very well. Nothing wrong with suggesting corrective measures.

[strawdog65]

Tough words, true statements.

 

It does in fact to me illustrate clearly why

we must constantly hold on dearly to our child-like

nature. No matter our physical age, the child remains.

 

Often the only voice seeing to the heart of the matter

is my own inner child, gently coaxing me, and other times

out right kicking me in the shins to not be hard, to soften

and laugh if only to relieve the tension and lament of the

loss of our innocence.

[goldisheavy]

Nice. I agree with a lot of this.

[3bob]

But Bob,

 

The Great Executor does not always do her job very well. Nothing wrong with suggesting corrective measures.

 

Hello MH,

 

(although in a different context) To me that is like saying the Tao does not do it job very well; btw such measures as the author suggests just replaces one evil with another...

Edited November 16, 2010 by 3bob

[Marblehead]

Hello MH,

 

(although in a different context) To me that is like saying the Tao does not do it job very well; btw such measures as the author suggests just replaces one evil with another...

 

Hi Bob,

 

Yeah, I suppose that it could look that way depending on how one views the subject.

 

But then, we all know that the Tao (life) sends us crap at different times in our life. If we just accept it passively we will always be confused and worried.

 

However, if we take action and refuse to accept the crap into our life then we do not experience those negative thoughts and feelings.

 

Yes, I suppose that manipulating anything can be viewed as an evil against the natural flow. But I prefer to take action against those things that I do not want in my life.

 

And remember, Lin did say "IF". That wasn't necessarily saying that he would do it if he had the power to do so. No, we cannot change the world. But we can change the behavior of some people who we feel are behaving in a negative and destructive way. At least we can prevent them from negatively effecting our life.

[manitou]

 

But then, we all know that the Tao (life) sends us crap at different times in our life. If we just accept it passively we will always be confused and worried.

 

 

I agree....Accepting the crap passively isn't an option. But loving your way through the crap works real well. By 'loving' I mean always taking the high path at every decision. didn't mean to throw the L-word at you Marbles, sorry....Breathe into a paper bag, you should be okay.....

 

And yes, Lin did devolve a bit when he refers to sterilization of the unfit - but if this passage is like the rest of his book the statement was probably tongue in cheek. Also, this was written in 1939 when such things were perhaps being done?

[Marblehead]

By 'loving' I mean always taking the high path at every decision. didn't mean to throw the L-word at you Marbles, sorry....Breathe into a paper bag, you should be okay.....

 

Hehehe. Good belly laugh.

 

Yeah, I know you enjoy using the "L" word. You go ahead - I'll be okay.