Forum Post: don't understand Occupy Wall Street?
Posted 12 years ago on Dec. 8, 2011, 9:41 p.m. EST by squarerootofzero
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"A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines. With consistency a great soul has simply nothing to do. He may as well concern himself with his shadow on the wall. Speak what you think now in hard words, and to-morrow speak what to-morrow thinks in hard words again, though it contradict every thing you said to-day. — 'Ah, so you shall be sure to be misunderstood.' — Is it so bad, then, to be misunderstood? Pythagoras was misunderstood, and Socrates, and Jesus, and Luther, and Copernicus, and Galileo, and Newton, and every pure and wise spirit that ever took flesh. To be great is to be misunderstood."
-Ralph Waldo Emerson, Self-Reliance (1841)
Looks like somebody attended their AP Language class today. But you missed the meaning here. Emerson is saying that one does not have to hold firm on their beliefs; we can and should constantly be changing our minds. We can agree with something one day and change our minds the next. That is a thinking person.
Great quote but it does not define OWS.
i would say that is your interpretation, sir.
i congratulate you or whatever it is you wanted me to say about your reading of this quote
Thanks.
Young readers typically grasp onto only the last two sentences in this excerpt. Let me know if you want me to break the rest of it down line by line.
yes please do break them down for me. i appreciate it : )
(that was smart of him not to so do)
Look it up . It's one of Emerson's most famous pieces. Are you really that dumb that you can't interpret it? Having seen a few of your other posts, I think you might have your own hobgoblins of the mind. Do you have a clue what he might mean by divines? Do you know what consistency means? do you know what a statesman is? Now, use your little pea brain to figure out why a politician or man of God might not want to say he has changed his mind. Do you know what contradiction is? Have you ever heard of Pythagoras? Any theorems in your past studies?
I have a pretty good feeling thinking isn't something you do much of and reevaluatimg probably never. Foolish minds stick to the one thought because they are either afraid of looking bad or are just plain stupid. You are probably the latter. (BTW, I threw in the ad hominem - Emerson didn't say stupid)
One quote does not "define" OWS. "For nonconformity the world whips you with its displeasure." Seems fitting to me.
Your heading, Don't Understand OWS?, would lead one to believe you were saying the Emerson quote explains OWS. It would be great if people DID allow themselves to think and change their minds frequently. That would truly be nonconformity. Here's my quote: "Did it ever occur to you that you might be wrong?"
Wrong about what?
If I had said the definition of OWS is: "enter quote here" then I could see your point, but I didn't do that. I allow anyone to make their own judgement on the meaning. In my OPINION, however, many people misunderstand OWS. You agree/disagree with that assessment?
I was merely explaining a statement from a transcendentalist. He discusses people's closed minded fear of being misunderstood if one says one thing one day and something different the next. People often fear or refuse to change their opinions.
What I quoted was just another way of reminding one not be be foolish in consistency in thought - to reevaluate daily, hourly. It wasn't meant to be taken literally.
I only bring it up because I think people need to be reminded of something somebody wrote in 1841 that, I think, still applies. OK, now, I understand where you are coming from. As a general quote, right? That is the problem: people can not admit that they "might" be wrong. They hold their beliefs so tightly because they fear if they do not then it will be a sign of weakness. Sometimes what seems like a weakness can be a great strength.
Exactly. Thinking and reassessimg is strength. Stagnation in thought is death.