WHERE THE TRUTH LIES

lie, n. a false statement known to be false by the person who makes it.
lie, v. to be in a horizontal or flat position; to exist; have its place.  –World Book Dictionary

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So, where does the truth lie? Attempts to address that question, it seems to me, lie in the assumption that we know objectively what truth is. Should we settle for the negative defining of truth as being the opposite of “lie, n“? I don’t know that most of us want to — or need to — go deeper into the jungle of truth than that, but if you’re of a mind to take the path of beast resistance, you can start here:

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/hide-and-seek/201808/what-is-truth

In our dystopian sub-culture of “fake news,” half-truths, whole-cloth fabrications and false narratives in which truth is what President Trump says it is and science is fiction, it isn’t always simple to disentangle truth from the deluge of prevarication and misrepresentations which is Trump’s stock in trade  — and he knows it. Who can fact check it all fast enough? The old saying remains relevant: “A lie can travel half way around the world while the truth is still putting on its shoes.”

And speaking of quotes which remain relevant, try these on for wise:

Carlyle said, “A lie cannot live.” It shows he did not know how to tell them. –Mark Twain

If at first you’re not believed, lie, lie again.–Evan Esar (not Trump, believe it or not)

The pursuit of truth shall set you free, even if you never catch up with it. –Clarence Darrow

It is twice as hard to crush a half-truth as a whole lie. –Austin O’Malley

Truth is more important than facts. –Frank Lloyd Wright

All men are born truthful and die liars. –Marquis de Vauvenargues

And so it goes. Would I lie to you?

 

HUMILITY IS MY GREATEST VIRTUE

It really matters that great poems get written, and it doesn’t matter a damn who writes them. –Ezra Pound

I was going to write a great poem today, but Feb. 22 is BE HUMBLE DAY….so, since “it doesn’t matter a damn who writes them,” I’ll let someone else have the honor. It undoubtedly won’t be as great as the one I would’ve written, but don’t quote me on that — I wouldn’t want anyone to think I don’t take Be Humble Day seriously.

Nonetheless, my faithful followers, all is not lost. Instead of a great poem, I will post some great HUMBLE DAY quotes for your enjoyment. They may not be my quotes, but think of them the same way as poems — if they’re great, it doesn’t matter a damn who said them. Besides, I’m sure that I would’ve said them if I had thought of them first, so let’s not quibble over technicalities.

I feel coming on me a strange disease — humility. –Frank Lloyd Wright

I feel very humble, but I think I have the strength of character to fight it. –Bob Hope

When you’re as great as I am, it’s hard to be humble. –Muhammad Ali

You know what keeps me humble? Mirrors! –Phyllis Diller

What the world needs is more geniuses with humility, there are so few of us left. -Oscar Levant

A modest man is usually admired, if people ever hear of him. –Edgar Watson Howe

In the course of my life, I have often had to eat my words, and I must confess that I have always found it a wholesome diet. -Winston Churchill

Life is a long lesson in humility. – James M. Barrie

If only I had a little humility, I would be perfect. -Ted Turner

Without humility there can be no humanity. – John Buchan

 

THREE FOR ONE

Have you ever stopped to think how many famous people might be much less famous if not for their middle names? This is particularly true of those with common first and last names, such as John (Paul) Jones and Daniel (Day) Lewis….as opposed to those with more distinctive last names, such as Louisa (May) Alcott, Joyce (Carol) Oates and Henry (David) Thoreau, whose middle names may be common, but which nonetheless add distinction to their identities. Then there are the triple-name famous whose middle names alone are distinctive, including James Fenimore Cooper, Ralph Waldo Emerson and John Greenleaf Whittier. Even the infamous are not without their triune-monikered members: John Wilkes Booth and James Earl Ray, for example.

To further demonstrate the point, here is a list of famous persons with middle names omitted. Odds are (let’s say 3 to 1) that you can’t correctly fill in all the blanks without “cheating”:

Frank _____ Wright
James _____ Jones
Arthur _____ Doyle
George _____ Carver
William _____ Williams

John _____ Astor
Martin _____ King
John _____ Sousa
Robert _____ Warren
Robert _____ Stevenson

Note that this missive includes no mrs.  whose “middle” name is her maiden name, such as Hillary Rodham Clinton. To do so would only encourage men to marry certain celebrities in order to gain surnames which would give them instant cheap fame. Take the following SWI writers, for example: David Black marries composer Lionel Bart (of “Oliver” fame) and becomes David Black Bart; Tony Elliott marries Eliot Ness and becomes Tony Elliott Ness; and most egregiously, Don Frankel marries Ben Stein and finds new life as Don Frankel Stein.

And on that monstrous note, I end this middling post before I begin to think of more bad pun names.