Critique the following:

"Of the Good in you I can speak, but not of the Evil. For what is Evil but Good tortured by its own hunger and thirst? When Good is hungry, it seeks food even in dark caves, and when it thirsts, it drinks even of dead waters. "" - Khalil Gibran, Lebonese poet and philosopher, on good and evil

And then you can add your own if you like.

I was inspired by a thread I saw on another board that asked the question, "Why do bad things happen to good people?".

The above is my absolute favorite quote, btw.

i tried really hard but i just can't get it.

^^ The above is so true...I will Amazon his works. Thank you.

I believe it says there really is no evil...
Because:

"For what is Evil but Good tortured by its own hunger and thirst? When Good is hungry, it seeks food even in dark caves, and when it thirsts, it drinks even of dead waters. "

""I believe it says there really is no evil...""

Indeed.

Akin to the saying that there is a thin line between love and hate, good and evil are of one substance. They originate from the same place. What causes one man to love will cause another to contemn.

Decision-making is the essence of life. Life is circumstantial.

""...but can fall into evil when deprived of what is needed to live.""

Yes.

Think of the thief. Naturally, we will judge and denounce one such person. How often do we question, or even sympathize with her motive?

Her children may be hungry, or sick, or cold. She may have thrown her pride and dignity out the window.

I don't distinguish b/w good or evil. We all have the same capacities. When presented with opportunities, we make the choice depending on our circumstance.

*nods and puffs on pipe*

Wearing this:

😉

lol

You're welcome to share.

...and thanks guys for analyzing. 🙂

it seems to me that if good and evil are the same thing than neither one really exists.

Ok, okay. More food for thought:

"Art is man's constant effort to create for himself a different order of reality from that which is given to him. " - Chinua Achebe, Nigerian poet, novelist, and professor, on art

""it seems to me that if good and evil are the same thing than neither one really exists.""

aha! Precisely.

I believe it was the names sake of the Nobel Peace prize...that built the bomb.

You can take that root too wheels...but then we'll just end up going back to circumstance.

which is obviously true, because there is no universal definition for either. it's all perception.

has anyone ever read heart of darkness?

nope.

should i?

I love Chinua Achebe...that man in the story reminded of my father...

""it's all perception.""

mmhmm. that's why i'm askin' for youuuur perception. i'm curious.

notso - yeah, i think so. if you get the chance, i think that you would like it.

k, i'll amazon it (😛 @ M). author?

joseph conrad

thanks

if you've ever heard the quote, "the horror!"
i'd like to inform you that it came from this book. hehe...'s pretty old school.

😛

Check the hot off the press mail 😉

I shall Amazon it too wheels, Thank you.

yer welcome, i s'pose. 😛

art can also be a depiction of how we actually perceive reality, not just an attempt to create another one (and no, i'm not just talking about still life).

ok, so can building a cabinet and using a bunch of html to create a web page. everything that we do alters our reality in some way.

Well, let's imagine a person does 99 good things and one bad thing. And yet, there always seems to be a rain cloud lingering over them all their life. Nothing good comes their way. I believe the person who posed the question, "why do bad things happen to good ppl?" was attempting to make sense of the above.

How would you explain that, JD? Do you suppose maybe it is a matter of perception, poor judgment, or overlooked opportunities?

Everything is relative.

emgem - you and i were really on the same page with this. i was left with the same feeling of "not too sure if i agree" when i first read that quote. as for heart of darkness, well, i loved it too. haha. who would have thunk it?

"everything in life is an art. eating is an art, sleeping is an art.
going to school is an art. and sometimes it's better to learn from someone who is experienced so you don't have to redo the same thing.
you can make new mistakes, that's how come we have schools in these arts today called colleges."

I can't say I agree that everything is art. or that art alters reality. even surreal artists will say that their art is a reflection of their reality as they preceive it. It may alter the viewers preception of what they see in life, but for the artist, it is very real.

If everything was art, why do we not have people eating and sleeping on display. ok ok, I know we do, but really..is it art? it's a good question, but I don't believe everyday tasks are or SHOULD be assigned to "art." I can't. To say that everything is art is to undermine that which truly succeeds at being art. The quote we are analyzing is art because it works against common demonination to raise preception, to alter the preception of the reality of those that read it. How can sleeping and eating be capable of the same action? I can't imagine it to be so...

Ooh, I love SIL's spin on the subject! Adopt me?

🙂