notes

February 25, 2010
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FROM MY NOTEBOOKS
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Jean Rostand, French biologist and son of Edmond, author of CYRANO DE BERGERAC: “Afterlife? It is the body that survives the mind, for several hours.”
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John Crowe Ransom, American poet:
“In all the good Greek of Plato,
I lack my roastbeef and potato.”
That's like going to hell for a cold beer.
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The best I can say about our benefactors and their flunkies is to quote Pushkin's line: “Where there is a trough, there will be swine.”
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Chinese proverb: “Behind an able man there are always other able men.”
The reverse is also true: Behind a failure...
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I don't remember any references to Armenians in John Updike's works. I am a little surprised therefore to read the following in TOWARDS THE END OF TIME (New York, 1997, page 124): “The Armenians of the region [Asia Minor] remained loyal to Christianity but were savagely slaughtered during World War I.”
The only other Armenian connection to Updike that I can think of is Cher starring in THE WITCHES OF EASTWICK.
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In the mind of most odars Armenians are invariably associated with slaughter or hunger.
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Armenian arguments polarize. When two Armenian friends start an argument, the chances are not only will they disagree but they will also end up as enemies. I speak from experience.
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February 26, 2010
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ON POWER
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Capitalism is the best system for capitalists.
So is Marxism for communists.
The same could be said of all organized religions and ideologies.
It never fails. As soon as a religion or an ideology is established, it creates and persecutes heretics. That's because men of power hate to share it. Power and corruption might as well be synonymous. To cover up this obvious fact, men of power in a democracy call themselves public servants. But one man's public servant is another's fascist dictator. In the eyes of right-wing racists, Obama is another Hitler.
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It has been said that a good diplomat can charm a cobra. If only our diplomats had been as good as our carpet dealers.
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Confucius: “Oppressive government is worse than a tiger.”
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We disagree like people who have tasted blood. We behave like sharks even if our opponent is a sardine. Which may explain our abuse of writers. I am not voicing a theory, just summing up the history of our literature.
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February 27, 2010
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PLAGIARISM
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Shahnour once accused Siamanto of plagiarism and quoted chapter and verse.
Oshagan accused Zarian of plagiarism too but without quoting chapter and verse.
Perhaps because Oshagan thought of himself as the best and refused to consider the possibility of anyone else being as good or even better without foul play.
Sometimes I too am accused of plagiarism minus chapter and verse. But I don't mind pleading guilty as charged.
Nothing I write is original.
Everything I say has been said before if not in the Bible than by Plato.
All I do is paraphrase, expand, and emphasize.
Bertrand Russell used to say that all philosophy is a footnote to Plato. Plato has been accused of being a fascist. There are those who believe Heidegger to be the greatest philosophy of the last century. Not only was he a fascist but also a member of the Nazi party. A coincidence?
It has also been said that if you want to have an idea of infinity, think of human ignorance. Even better, think of human history where ideas are translated into action – that is to say, wars, revolutions, and massacres.
No one wants war, except of course deranged megalomaniacs and their dupes who seem to have their way every time.
How to explain that?
Or rather, what must be done?
This simple question has a simple answer but no one seems to listen or care. Homo sapiens seems to be more easily seduced by lies than by truth – namely that, all men are brothers. And because I say and repeat as much, I am accused of plagiarism. But I shouldn't complain. Far better men than myself have been crucified or assassinated for uttering that blasphemy.
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