Some people are instantly likeable, some just the opposite. We hear much about “born leaders,” but most of us are probably born followers. And why not, so long as we’re being led in the right direction? That is the trouble. This quality called “charisma” (an expression relatively new to our modern vocabulary, though its roots […]
At Christmas 1914, when World War I had already been raging for several months, an odd phenomenon occurred along the Western Front. Men from both sides briefly stopped fighting and fraternized. This “Christmas truce” is remembered as a freak occurrence. Some were punished for having engaged in it. Fighting resumed, and the war went on […]
It may be uplifting to think in terms of constant and inevitable progress – but it’s not very realistic. In many ways, our society seems to be stuck, or even sliding backward. As one example, consider this anachronism: in an era of streamlined electronic cyber-finance, we are still accepting as “legal tender” little round pieces […]
To me, the word “Forever” has always had a certain sanctity. There were only two ways in which I commonly heard it used. One was in prayers and hymns, particularly in what Christians refer to as The Lord’s Prayer (though it is not perfectly clear from the title whether “The Lord” is “Our Father,” to […]
In the fall of 1785, a young Scottish farmer was working in one of his fields, when his plow happened to overturn the nest of a field mouse. The victim scampered away – but the perpetrator felt sadly about his inadvertently cruel act – and eventually wrote a poem about it. The poet was Robert […]
Everything is supposed to depend on how you look at things. Reality is simply what you tell yourself. But you have to be convincing. (The trouble begins when you stop believing your own lies.) A good leader (in my view) ought to do that job for you, e.g., by providing you with inspirational pep-talks – […]
Recently, at one of those pleasant “curbside free libraries,” which have lately become so popular, I picked up a book called I Never Promised You a Rose Garden. I was intrigued by the title, for a personal reason. No one ever promised me a rose garden, either – and I never particularly wanted one – […]
I’ve always thought it strange that, while there’s no acknowledged “class system,” most Americans firmly believe they belong to the “middle class” – an expression prominent in political rhetoric. One hardly dares ask what the other classes are, because it’s somehow “un-American” even to concede the existence of an upper or lower class. Having grown […]
Nobody ever made up his or her mind to be lucky. Chance and intention are at opposite ends of the spectrum of probability. Yet there are all sorts of superstitions about ways to influence your luck. But even the people who acknowledge the sheer randomness of happenstance rationalize their chances. Otherwise, lotteries would hardly be […]
One of the illustrated epigrams on which my strange career has been built shows a little cherub hovering in the air, holding a large volume, while an unseen speaker demands, “BRING ME A DICTIONARY – I WANT TO KNOW THE MEANING OF LIFE.” Well, after all, if you can’t find meaning in a dictionary, where […]