tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4320479736034351430.post7478982966670140946..comments2023-10-03T07:01:41.144-05:00Comments on Always On Watch: Semper Vigilans: Cicero (?) Was RightAlways On Watchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08192688822955022541noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4320479736034351430.post-60280382738359959052014-04-08T21:57:55.857-05:002014-04-08T21:57:55.857-05:0010/410/4Kidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05287399775879832602noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4320479736034351430.post-35288770678098027492014-04-08T21:27:00.298-05:002014-04-08T21:27:00.298-05:00I think Ducky is onto something. Appeals to author...I think Ducky is onto something. Appeals to authority are cheap. Make you point, back it up (empirical data are good), and then reference others who are of the same opinion. Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17665311979954859271noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4320479736034351430.post-45095118880484967952014-04-08T21:24:43.089-05:002014-04-08T21:24:43.089-05:00I am not into philosophy, so I find myself having ...I am not into philosophy, so I find myself having to make decisions on such philosophical writings. <br /><br />Let me know when you get some more good stuff. Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17665311979954859271noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4320479736034351430.post-88679800880911263742014-04-08T20:13:47.092-05:002014-04-08T20:13:47.092-05:00Well, hell, I guess I'll have to go find some ...Well, hell, I guess I'll have to go find some Aristotle stuff now.Kidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05287399775879832602noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4320479736034351430.post-91699143345197988142014-04-08T20:12:47.408-05:002014-04-08T20:12:47.408-05:00We are left with a cheap appeal to authority falla...We are left with a cheap appeal to authority fallacy.Ducky's herehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14608115001116619877noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4320479736034351430.post-73649394542896172792014-04-08T18:37:57.250-05:002014-04-08T18:37:57.250-05:00What your position on Bathe's "Death of t...What your position on Bathe's "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_the_Author" rel="nofollow">Death of the author</a>"?<br /><br />After all, science has become more of a "collaborative" endeavor of late.Thersiteshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15751286903359745316noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4320479736034351430.post-91188655667422769102014-04-08T16:03:26.242-05:002014-04-08T16:03:26.242-05:00Ya mean "It's gotta be true, because so-a...Ya mean <i>"It's gotta be true, because so-and-so said it true, so YOU'D better accept it, because who the hell are YOU, after all?"</i><br /><br />Sorry. I don't buy that -- not that I think it should be necessary for each generation to invent The Wheel all over again, mind you. However, "canned" opinion taken at face value by ignorant people has no real value at all in the development of their lives.<br /><br />Knowledge is DEAD without full comprehension of what it means n=and how it applies.<br /><br />I'm not one of Einstein's biggest fans, but he said, <b>"Imagination is more important than knowledge."</b><br /><br />Think of it this way: What earthly good is a library full of dusty volumes, if no one ever READS them, and worse, if they DO read them, fail to COMPREHEND them?<br /><br />That's why my favorite homespun proverb is <b>"DON'T CONFUSE ME with the FACTS. What I want is the TRUTH."</b> ;-)<br /><br />Anothergreat one is: <b>You don't need to eat a pound of poo-poo to know it don't taste good."</b>FreeThinkehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16682678301019952436noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4320479736034351430.post-88282507329443181012014-04-08T15:52:16.786-05:002014-04-08T15:52:16.786-05:00Remember: "There's nothing new under the ...Remember: "There's nothing new under the sun." Ecclesiastes said so in the Bible, ergo it must be true, right? FreeThinkehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16682678301019952436noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4320479736034351430.post-74284607275993539182014-04-08T15:50:55.347-05:002014-04-08T15:50:55.347-05:00And JEFFERSON said THESE two things:
"If we ...And JEFFERSON said THESE two things:<br /><br /><i>"If we can prevent government from wasting the labors of the people, under the pretense of taking care of them, they must become happy."</i><br /><br /><b>"I place economy among the first and most important virtues, and public debt as the greatest danger to be feared."</b><br /><br />Do you think he "stole" his ideas from Cicero? ;-)<br /><br />There are certain fundamental principles that undergird and lie at the heart of all sound political and economic philosophy. I am quite sure that many observant, intelligent individuals were aware of these principles and arrived at similar conclusions as the great sages we reocognize today even before we developed written language.<br />FreeThinkehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16682678301019952436noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4320479736034351430.post-22514123613760325392014-04-08T15:43:37.563-05:002014-04-08T15:43:37.563-05:00I think that too, Bob. Outside of a measure of idl...I think that too, Bob. Outside of a measure of idle curiosity I frankly don't give a damn who wrote Shakespeare, etc. The only important aspect of it is that the glorious stuff DID get written, and HAS survived and been appreciated now for several centuries. If it turned out that the works of J.S. Bach, whom I revere, were REALLY written by his WIFE, it would be "interesting," but it wouldn't MATTER. Again, the only important thing is that we HAVE those glorious organ, choral, harpsichord and orchestral works to study, enjoy, benefit from and marvel at.<br /><br />No true artist does what he does primarily for "recognition," he does it for the sake of DOING it, because he BELIEVES in it.FreeThinkehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16682678301019952436noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4320479736034351430.post-34695083785638190172014-04-08T14:37:21.907-05:002014-04-08T14:37:21.907-05:00Does it really matter what person originally said ...<i>Does it really matter what person originally said the words? </i><br /><br />Only if you believe in an "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argument_from_authority" rel="nofollow">argument from authority</a>". :)Thersiteshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15751286903359745316noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4320479736034351430.post-28962102280727187082014-04-08T13:14:25.805-05:002014-04-08T13:14:25.805-05:00Does it really matter what person originally said ...Does it really matter what person originally said the words? Does the person detract from the wisdom? <br /><br />We are left with the fact that as individuals, we determine with our opinions what is wise, and what is foolish.<br /><br />Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17665311979954859271noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4320479736034351430.post-64783882336306851732014-04-08T10:43:26.418-05:002014-04-08T10:43:26.418-05:00Steve Harkonnen might gleefully agree.Steve Harkonnen might gleefully agree.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02343241442312167334noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4320479736034351430.post-92130082409640072172014-04-08T09:54:30.643-05:002014-04-08T09:54:30.643-05:00If there is one Roman whose words are worthy of ou...If there is one Roman whose words are worthy of our time, they are the thoughts written down in a series of letters by Marcus Aurelius. The collection of his writings today is called Meditations, appearing in 12 books. His Fourteen Virtues are also worthy of our consideration, among them <i>“Frugalitas: economy and simplicity of style, without being miserly.”</i><br /><br />As for Cicero, yes he was exiled from Rome ... permanently. Sam Huntingtonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14780557316548397352noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4320479736034351430.post-65191276704091572472014-04-08T09:46:41.826-05:002014-04-08T09:46:41.826-05:00Cicero, much like myself (HA!), was very much a pr...Cicero, much like myself (HA!), was very much a product of the "old" Republic.<br /><br />"Imperial" Rome emerged when the likes of Cicero were eventually "thrown off". How did THAT happen? Perhaps even Cicero himself was largely responsible...<br /><br /><i>The Senate then deliberated upon the conspirators' punishment. As it was the dominant advisory body to the various legislative assemblies rather than a judicial body, there were limits to its power; however, martial law was in effect, and it was feared that simple house arrest or exile – the standard options – would not remove the threat to the state. At first Decimus Silanus spoke for the "extreme penalty"; many were then swayed by Julius Caesar, who decried the precedent it would set and argued in favor of life imprisonment in various Italian towns. Cato the Younger then rose in defence of the death penalty and all the Senate finally agreed on the matter. Cicero had the conspirators taken to the Tullianum, the notorious Roman prison, where they were strangled. Cicero himself accompanied the former consul Publius Cornelius Lentulus Sura, one of the conspirators, to the Tullianum. Cicero received the honorific "Pater Patriae" for his efforts to suppress the conspiracy, but lived thereafter in fear of trial or exile for having put Roman citizens to death without trial.</i><br /><br />For his "excesses" gave birth to even greater ones. The genie went loose.-FJ the Dangerous and Extreme MAGA Jewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16745768408538827278noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4320479736034351430.post-42025873531072031192014-04-08T08:03:31.619-05:002014-04-08T08:03:31.619-05:00However, apparently Cicero did say this:
Frugali...However, apparently Cicero did say <a href="http://www.quote-wise.com/quotes/cicero/frugality-includes-all-the-other-virtues" rel="nofollow">this</a>: <br /><br /><i>Frugality includes all the other virtues.</i><br /><br /><a href="http://www.quote-wise.com/quotes/topic/money" rel="nofollow">These money quotes</a> contain lessons that we in the 21st Century should certainly consider. Worth reading!Always On Watchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08192688822955022541noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4320479736034351430.post-6216518804543213102014-04-08T07:56:54.400-05:002014-04-08T07:56:54.400-05:00Good for you! Technically correct.
However, acco...Good for you! Technically correct.<br /><br />However, <a href="http://www.snopes.com/quotes/cicero.asp" rel="nofollow">according to Snopes:</a><i>Although [Taylor Caldwell's] A Pillar of Iron often drew directly from the recorded speeches and letters of Cicero for its dialogue, it was nonetheless a work of fiction, and the now famous statement from Cicero about "balancing the budget" was an invention of Caldwell's and not a reproduction of Cicero's own words. In fact, the novel doesn't even present these words as something spoken by Cicero, but rather as a summation of Cicero's political philosophy which prefaces an imagined conversation between Cicero and Gaius Antonius Hybrida....</i>Always On Watchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08192688822955022541noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4320479736034351430.post-38626241463058083212014-04-08T07:08:45.749-05:002014-04-08T07:08:45.749-05:00Those words were never uttered by Cicero. They...Those words were never uttered by Cicero. They've been around only since 1965.Not Cicerohttp://www.snopes.com/quotes/cicero.aspnoreply@blogger.com