reflections

Thursday, April 03, 2008
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FROM THE MEMOIRS OF HERCULES
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“Of all my labors, the hardest was separating an Armenian from his prejudices. After trying seven times and failing, I moved to less demanding undertakings, like moving mountains, draining seas, and capping volcanoes.”
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FROM A RECENT BIOGRAPHY OF ELGAR
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King Edward VII “was one of the more cultivated royals of recent centuries, displaying definite evidence of brain activity.”
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MEMO
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To the editor who suggested I write longer pieces if I want to be published in his weekly: “As a child I was exposed to countless longwinded sermons and speeches against sin and for patriotism. As an adult, whenever I begin to read a commentary, I seldom last beyond the first paragraph.”
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MEMO II
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To a reader who verbally abuses me from a safe distance and anonymously: “You don’t even have the courage and honesty to admit your cowardice, and you expect me to take what you say seriously?”
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DEFINITION
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Patriotism: “Love of God and Country, not to be confused with love of lies and propaganda.”
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Friday, April 04, 2008
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OF CABBAGES AND KINGS
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A headline in the SPECTATOR (London, March 2008) reads: “If God proved he existed, I still wouldn’t believe in him.” It seems to me, whenever bad things happen to good people, or the innocent are victimized, or evil triumphs, God (if he exists) is trying to prove to us that he doesn’t exist, or we can’t count on his existence, and that we should conduct our affairs as if he didn’t exist, and that our petitions and prayers will fall on deaf ears.
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To readers who are afraid that my kind of criticism in an open forum on the Internet may damage our image as a nation, I say: The Tourian assassination in 1933, and more recently, the terrorism of our so-called “freedom fighters,” and the riots of March 1 have done infinitely more harm to our image than all our past, present, and future critics combined if only because none of them so far has made a single headline in the international press. Compared to our kings who parade naked on Main Street, the voiceof our critics is more like the whisper of the kid in the crowd who says they have no clothes on.
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Saturday, April 05, 2008
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REFLECTIONS
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We survived 600 years under the sultans. We will be lucky if we survive that long under our own Ottomanized bosses and Stalinized commissars.
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One can become an addict of lies and propaganda as surely as to nicotine and opium.
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A true assertion, like a great work of art, paralyzes our critical faculties.
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In the same way that authority allows one to behave in an irresponsible manner, a high degree of intelligence allows one to blabber like an idiot.
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You don’t have to go out of your way to make enemies in our environment. All you have to do is state clearly and honestly what you think.
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One reason we are a failure as a nation is that we refuse to discuss our failings, and when someone dares to mention them, we make him feel as though he were insulting Mount Ararat, shish-kebab, and pilaf.
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