Aphorisms, Why Search?

More of Alex's Aphorisms, Plus a few of mine; 24 May, 2004


I can see now so I don't have to listen anymore!
"My braying is the only truth," said the donkey.
We accept bribery as proof of natural selection!
Slogan: "Nurture the past to defeat the future!"
Smart people don't work, they are retired.
Power and being hated comes in the same package.
Do you believe in reincarnation after love?
I hate rainbows, so I chase them.
Wishes for eyes, reality for hands, struggle for heart.
Maximalist: Struggle does not matter, only results!
Feeling stupid is the first step to becoming smart, and that is as far as we are ever going to get.
Follow the common rules and you go to a common grave.
Your dreams become truth if you can remember them.
Love and water are fundamental to life but only if they are clean and tasteless.
Respect for stupidity makes you smart.
I'm nostalgic for a past that never happened.

Addendum by JET: I am even worse, I get nostalgic for other peoples' past.


--from "Say So," by Alex Szatmary, revised by JET 24 May, 2004



Added Sayings by JET


This is saying number one. Blow your nose in the morning or pick it all day. Your choice.

The prophet says, "Ye have eyes but do not see." And the impure answer, "You see but you do not make eyes." The prophet answers: "Actually I do, just not in the way you mean."

Thales said there was no difference between life and death. "Why, then," said some one to him, "do not you die?" "Because," said he, "it does make no difference." (Thales, IX, in Diogenes Laertius, Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers, Translated by C. D. Yonge)

JET: "Well, what if I kill you," someone said to Thales. "Makes no difference." "Hows about torture you?" "No difference," came the reply. "There's something hanging out of your nose there." "Well, you got me there," came Thales embarrassed reply. See saying number one.




Why search?; 24 May, 2004 (rewrite of a 1996 essay)


'Abdu'l-Baha said that "there is nothing of greater importance to mankind than the investigation of truth." [Promulgation, 63] If we accept that this is so this hypothetical question takes on great importance: What would the world be like if search for truth were universally ignored?

They told a story in eighteenth century Japan of a master who began instructing a servant. He said, "I want you to go on an errand to so and so across town..." This servant was very prompt and obedient, so he cried out, "Yes sir!" and ran off. On his return his master was beside himself. "You did not wait to hear my message! What in heaven's name did you tell him, you fool?" The servant answered: "Well, fortunately he was not at home." (Blyth, Oriental Humor, 535-6) Suffice to say, if nobody sought truth, it would be better for us all if we were not at home.

Richard Landau, an old friend and one of the best Baha'i speakers I've ever heard, once gave a delightful and succinct summary of the principle of universal education. Think of it this way, he said. What would happen if the old stopped teaching the young? If that were suddenly to happen the human race would surely die out within a generation, he said. But I would take Rick's question even further. What makes the young want to learn from the old? What makes the old want to share? What makes both desire to take knowledge further and strive to improve on old ways? The answer to that surely rests in the first Baha'i principle, in our mysterious human desire to seek out hidden realities. If nobody wanted to investigate, that is, we would reject knowledge, refuse instruction and sink into barbarism. No doubt, the race would die out in far less than a whole generation.

Of course this is an extreme, hypothetical case. Most of the time you can sit back and rely on the fruits of others' search. The mind is a mirror, after all. You can read history and because you know what will happen you will have more insight into their lives and blunders than the greatest and wisest.

It is not only possible but quite easy to relax before the challenge of truth and just say, "Let's not and say we did?" Truth is hidden and invisible, after all, so nobody will scream and shout if you get by with a half hearted stab at it. You can just parrot the first truths you happen to overhear from others and people will respect your words just the same.

Both Socrates and `Abdu'l-Baha termed this "imitation." The Master pointed out that imitation is an inebriating wine that leads to slavery,


"For the imitator saith that such and such a man hath seen, such a man hath heard, and such a conscience hath discovered; in other words he dependeth upon the sight, the hearing and the conscience of others and hath no will of his own." [Abdu'l-Baha, Selections, p. 29]


What is wrong with not having a will of your own? It feels good, after all, to be part of a bigger anthill. But, as an imitator you will not only be weaker but dumber, because you will forget how to take ideas apart and put them back together. Worse, an imitator tends to forget what is good and what is bad. Aesop told a story to illustrate what happens next.


There once was a caterpillar who came upon a snake sunning itself upon a rock. The caterpillar was filled with awe at the beauty of this creature. When he compared its extended length with his own he was envious. He stretched and strained to make himself as long as the snake. Eventually he elongated himself so hard that he burst. (Aesop Without Morals, 268)


We are made for the truth, but for our own truth. The part of the soul that loves its truth, that is made for reality, feels discontented and unhappy without expression. That anger boils over into irrational, knee-jerk reactions, such as violence.

This is not to say that imitation is all bad. Indeed, ardent, strenuous search all the time would take the strength and endurance of a superman. And as every teacher knows, imitation is a useful shortcut, especially in the early stages of the learning process. You can learn a lot about art by looking at paintings and about sports by watching professionals play the game. But at some stage a student must make truth his or her own. This is painful and requires work and effort but it is absolutely essential. If learners were allowed to copy from their neighbors in an examination only a small elite would learn anything. As likely as not, their errors would proliferate through the class.

A world like ours where imitation is common is a dangerous, precarious place. With large numbers of imitators sinking into ignorance it is not difficult for small elites to cajole large numbers of people to hatred, to march to war and terror and make cannon fodder of us all. So in many ways a world that relies too much upon imitation is as badly off as one where nobody sought truth at all.


"It behooves us all to be lovers of truth. Let us seek her in every season and in every country, being careful never to attach ourselves to personalities." (Abdu'l-Baha, Paris Talks, 134)