The Pursuit
Aug. 10th, 2009 11:08 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
pjthompsonFrom the notebooks, May 14, 1998.
The Pursuit
Happiness, then, is that thing which
always rises over the next hill.
Beauty is that eye which beholds its fancy
(although its fancy is not beheld by all).
Truth, though beautiful to some, is also
said to be ugly or plain or unvarnished;
eternal, but simple and honest.
Honor is something you die for, although no one
says exactly why, except that it might
have something to do with
Glory, which is said to be shining. But also
something one can be covered in
(like a blanket, one supposes),
and which, I have heard,
has paths which lead to
Faith. This is somehow linked
to Hope and Charity, but the link
seems tenuous, at best,
Compassion being necessary
for at least the latter, and sadly
lacking most of the time because
we're all so damned busy pursuing
life, and also pursuing
Liberty—that thing we're always on the verge
of losing (so they say), or at least,
must defend to the death (though again
short on specifics, everyone accepts
this, and therefore so must I),
and although we are busy pursuing it,
this fretting over liberty really tends
to put a damper on our
Happiness.
—PJ Thompson
The Pursuit
Happiness, then, is that thing which
always rises over the next hill.
Beauty is that eye which beholds its fancy
(although its fancy is not beheld by all).
Truth, though beautiful to some, is also
said to be ugly or plain or unvarnished;
eternal, but simple and honest.
Honor is something you die for, although no one
says exactly why, except that it might
have something to do with
Glory, which is said to be shining. But also
something one can be covered in
(like a blanket, one supposes),
and which, I have heard,
has paths which lead to
Faith. This is somehow linked
to Hope and Charity, but the link
seems tenuous, at best,
Compassion being necessary
for at least the latter, and sadly
lacking most of the time because
we're all so damned busy pursuing
life, and also pursuing
Liberty—that thing we're always on the verge
of losing (so they say), or at least,
must defend to the death (though again
short on specifics, everyone accepts
this, and therefore so must I),
and although we are busy pursuing it,
this fretting over liberty really tends
to put a damper on our
Happiness.
—PJ Thompson
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Date: 2009-08-10 06:29 pm (UTC)Love how that leads around full circle.
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Date: 2009-08-10 06:36 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-08-10 08:25 pm (UTC)May I link to it?
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Date: 2009-08-10 09:18 pm (UTC)