Today's AWAD quote irks me! - 01/04/08 05:33 PM
>>>For money you can have everything it is said. No that is not true. You can buy food, but not appetite; medicine, but not health; soft beds, but not sleep; knowledge but not intelligence; glitter, but not comfort; fun, but not pleasure; acquaintances, but not friendship; servants, but not faithfulness; grey hair, but not honor; quiet days, but not peace. The shell of all things you can get for money. But not the kernel. That cannot be had for money. -Arne Garborg, writer (1851-1924)
I hate quotes like this. They are arrogant, and ooze of those little sayings used to make people feel better about being poor: “The meek shall inherit the earth” “You’ll get your reward in heaven” “The last will be the first”
You can be filthy rich and have appetite, health, sleep, intelligence, comfort, pleasure, friends, faithfulness, honour and peace.
In today’s society…
• You can have all the appetite you want, but if you’ve no money to buy food, well, you’ll die of starvation. The smell of a good steak, grilling on the Bar-B-Q will certainly open up your appetite – but only if you can afford the steak. Conversely, the puree of rice with which they feed the starving can certainly be awaited, and eaten hungrily, but they certainly don’t have an appetite for it, eating it out of the need for survival.
• Unless you live in Canada with universal health-care, if you’ve no money for health-care or insurance, you are pretty much assured to die younger than someone with money, who can pay for good health services.
• YOU try sleeping when you’re starving! And knowing that all your bills are paid, you’ve got a good roof over your head, your kids are getting a good education…well, that tends to make you sleep well. You don’t sleep well when you’ve got worries and worries happen to you whether you are rich or poor.
• Knowledge: Theoretical and/or practical understanding of matters worth knowing; the sum of what is known. Intelligence: The ability to comprehend; to understand and profit from experience. Can’t argue this one. A poor person can be just as knowledgeable and intelligent as a rich person, however, the rich person does have the benefit of being able to afford higher education, and consequently, make an easier life for himself. The knowledge is simply different. I’m sure if you stuck a rich city slicker in the middle of the jungle, he’d probably have more trouble surviving than an aboriginal person who lives there. Conversely though, a poor person can be just as unintelligent as a rich person. Neither being rich or poor makes you better able to profit from experiences.
• Glitter but not comfort? What does that mean? If you buy a pair of glittery shoes, and they don’t fit comfortably, who’s better off? The guy who can chuck them and simply buy a new, more comfortable pair, or the guy who has to wear the uncomfortable ones because he can’t afford a new pair.
• Likewise fun but not pleasure? Don’t you hate it when you’re having fun, laughing and enjoying yourself and you suddenly realize, “I’m not having pleasure?” How inane is that statement.
• A rich person can have friends just as much as a poor person. A friend is a person with whom you share common interests, have affinities for the same things, enjoy the company of (dangling participle be damned). To decide that being rich means you are superficial is ignorant and judgemental.
• So what is he saying? Servants, who are generally not as well off as the employer, are incapable of being faithful? Or is it that they do not bestow faithfulness because their employer is rich? Seems rather narrow-minded, and are we to blame the person who hired them, or the person who is narrow-minded. And no, I’m not over simplifying…poor assholes are just as likely to have people be unfaithful to them as rich assholes. It has nothing to do with money; it has to do with character.
• Grey hair, but not honour; a bit of Grecian Formula should clear that right up. HA! Rich or poor, grey hair is not a sign of honour, it’s just a sign of age.
• quiet days, but not peace. I don’t know. I give up. What does he mean? You can pretty much buy peace of mind (see that whole “sleeping” statement). Unless you have something to feel guilty about, which is not proprietary to being rich, being rich doesn’t negate being contented. Unless he means world peace, which, I’m not sure of how it would apply.
• The shell of all things you can get for money. But not the kernel. Ridiculous analogy…In most cases, the shell will contain the kernel.
Being poor isn’t of greater validity than, or preferable to, being rich; it isn’t more noble. It pisses me off that people imply so. They judge people just by one aspect of their lives, and just as any type of racism, it is wrong. You don’t have to idolize people because they are rich, but neither should you denigrate them because of it. Likewise, you shouldn't idolize nor denigrate someone because he is poor.
I hate quotes like this. They are arrogant, and ooze of those little sayings used to make people feel better about being poor: “The meek shall inherit the earth” “You’ll get your reward in heaven” “The last will be the first”
You can be filthy rich and have appetite, health, sleep, intelligence, comfort, pleasure, friends, faithfulness, honour and peace.
In today’s society…
• You can have all the appetite you want, but if you’ve no money to buy food, well, you’ll die of starvation. The smell of a good steak, grilling on the Bar-B-Q will certainly open up your appetite – but only if you can afford the steak. Conversely, the puree of rice with which they feed the starving can certainly be awaited, and eaten hungrily, but they certainly don’t have an appetite for it, eating it out of the need for survival.
• Unless you live in Canada with universal health-care, if you’ve no money for health-care or insurance, you are pretty much assured to die younger than someone with money, who can pay for good health services.
• YOU try sleeping when you’re starving! And knowing that all your bills are paid, you’ve got a good roof over your head, your kids are getting a good education…well, that tends to make you sleep well. You don’t sleep well when you’ve got worries and worries happen to you whether you are rich or poor.
• Knowledge: Theoretical and/or practical understanding of matters worth knowing; the sum of what is known. Intelligence: The ability to comprehend; to understand and profit from experience. Can’t argue this one. A poor person can be just as knowledgeable and intelligent as a rich person, however, the rich person does have the benefit of being able to afford higher education, and consequently, make an easier life for himself. The knowledge is simply different. I’m sure if you stuck a rich city slicker in the middle of the jungle, he’d probably have more trouble surviving than an aboriginal person who lives there. Conversely though, a poor person can be just as unintelligent as a rich person. Neither being rich or poor makes you better able to profit from experiences.
• Glitter but not comfort? What does that mean? If you buy a pair of glittery shoes, and they don’t fit comfortably, who’s better off? The guy who can chuck them and simply buy a new, more comfortable pair, or the guy who has to wear the uncomfortable ones because he can’t afford a new pair.
• Likewise fun but not pleasure? Don’t you hate it when you’re having fun, laughing and enjoying yourself and you suddenly realize, “I’m not having pleasure?” How inane is that statement.
• A rich person can have friends just as much as a poor person. A friend is a person with whom you share common interests, have affinities for the same things, enjoy the company of (dangling participle be damned). To decide that being rich means you are superficial is ignorant and judgemental.
• So what is he saying? Servants, who are generally not as well off as the employer, are incapable of being faithful? Or is it that they do not bestow faithfulness because their employer is rich? Seems rather narrow-minded, and are we to blame the person who hired them, or the person who is narrow-minded. And no, I’m not over simplifying…poor assholes are just as likely to have people be unfaithful to them as rich assholes. It has nothing to do with money; it has to do with character.
• Grey hair, but not honour; a bit of Grecian Formula should clear that right up. HA! Rich or poor, grey hair is not a sign of honour, it’s just a sign of age.
• quiet days, but not peace. I don’t know. I give up. What does he mean? You can pretty much buy peace of mind (see that whole “sleeping” statement). Unless you have something to feel guilty about, which is not proprietary to being rich, being rich doesn’t negate being contented. Unless he means world peace, which, I’m not sure of how it would apply.
• The shell of all things you can get for money. But not the kernel. Ridiculous analogy…In most cases, the shell will contain the kernel.
Being poor isn’t of greater validity than, or preferable to, being rich; it isn’t more noble. It pisses me off that people imply so. They judge people just by one aspect of their lives, and just as any type of racism, it is wrong. You don’t have to idolize people because they are rich, but neither should you denigrate them because of it. Likewise, you shouldn't idolize nor denigrate someone because he is poor.