CHOMP!NG AT THE BIT: Mistakes...
...they are a part of life; we all make them. How do you handle your mistakes?
A) cast blame on others
B) forget it like it never happened
C) create excuses to absolve yourself
D) punish yourself by reliving it over and over again
E) own up to it and learn from it
For me, E is the only option.
Many people misquote Dostoevsky's passage in The Brothers Karamazov as, "a man who lies to himself will lie to anyone."
While the snippet comes close, is catchy, and tends to ring true, the paraphrased wording misses the deeper insight and caution that the complete text provides:
"Above all, don't lie to yourself. The man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes to such a point that he cannot distinguish the truth within him, or around him, and so loses all respect for himself and for others. And having no respect he ceases to love. And in order to distract himself without love he gives way to passions and coarse pleasures and sinks to bestiality in his vices—all this from continual lying to other men and to himself. The man who lies to himself can be more easily offended than anyone else. You know it is sometimes very pleasant to take offense, isn't it? A man may know that nobody has insulted him, but that he has invented the insult for himself, has lied and exaggerated to make it picturesque, has caught at a word and made a mountain out of a molehill—he knows that himself, yet he will be the first to take offense, and will revel in his resentment till he feels great pleasure in it. And so he will pass to genuine vindictiveness..."
A) cast blame on others
B) forget it like it never happened
C) create excuses to absolve yourself
D) punish yourself by reliving it over and over again
E) own up to it and learn from it
For me, E is the only option.
Many people misquote Dostoevsky's passage in The Brothers Karamazov as, "a man who lies to himself will lie to anyone."
While the snippet comes close, is catchy, and tends to ring true, the paraphrased wording misses the deeper insight and caution that the complete text provides:
"Above all, don't lie to yourself. The man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes to such a point that he cannot distinguish the truth within him, or around him, and so loses all respect for himself and for others. And having no respect he ceases to love. And in order to distract himself without love he gives way to passions and coarse pleasures and sinks to bestiality in his vices—all this from continual lying to other men and to himself. The man who lies to himself can be more easily offended than anyone else. You know it is sometimes very pleasant to take offense, isn't it? A man may know that nobody has insulted him, but that he has invented the insult for himself, has lied and exaggerated to make it picturesque, has caught at a word and made a mountain out of a molehill—he knows that himself, yet he will be the first to take offense, and will revel in his resentment till he feels great pleasure in it. And so he will pass to genuine vindictiveness..."
(to be continued)
Chomp! ~Sammy "The Dentist"
posted by Sammy "The Dentist" at
8:30 PM
1 Comments:
Amazing how pertinant this is to my experience of the last 2 days. This idea of having to blame someone else, or absolve yourself, rather than sit with the uncomfortable feelings that arise from being fallible, and human and experiencing the inevitable emotional fallout of our imperfect choices....did you ever think of changing your handle to SammythePhilosopher?...hhhmmmmmm...nah...not as catchy!
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