Originally Posted by TBone550
"I want to say one word to you. Just one word. Chautauqua."
"I want to say one word to you. Just one word. Chautauqua."
There's nothing civil about this war.
"I think that if we are going to reform the world, and make it a better place to live in, the way to do it is not with talk about relationships of a political nature, which are inevitably dualistic, full of subjects and objects and their relationship to one another; or with programs full of things for other people to do. I think that kind of approach starts at the end and presumes the end is the beginning. Programs of a political nature are important end products of social quality that can be effective only if the underlying structure of social values is right. The social values are right only if the individual values are right. The place to improve the world is first in one's own heart and head and hands, and then work outward from there. Other people can talk about how to expand the destiny of mankind. I just want to talk about how to fix a motorcycle. I think that what I have to say has more lasting value."
p. 267, 3rd edition, 1981
I think my copy cost me $1.50, and I was in college, which probably/partially explains my inability to totally "get it". (I was definitely more interested in (applied) mechanics than philosophy!)
I still have the same copy, 30 years later--it'll go on the plane with me the next time I head out. Thank you.
I read it after having read Zen and the Art of Archery, actually a couple of years afterward when I had joined the Army, so probably 76-77(?). I was deep into motorcycles at the time and wasn't sure if it was a clever takeoff on the former book or something different. It was an eye-opening book. The main thing I remember from it was the scene where Pirsig's friend with the BMW needed to shim his bars and Pirsig suggested a strip of Coke can since it had the proper characteristics, but his friend recoiled from the idea of fixing his purebred Beemer with such a pedestrian material.
I need to get another copy and re-read it. It'll be interesting to see what 40+ years of life experience does to the way I understand the book.
I read that back in my early Army days. The sailboat one, too. Lila, according to a quick search. I'd forgotten the name and even it's existence you mentioned the Zen book.
I'm starting Sam Houston and the Alamo Avengers The Texas Victory That Changed American History tonight: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07NKP1PTN/
Last edited by BehindBlueI's; 01-23-2020 at 09:57 PM.
Sorta around sometimes for some of your shitty mod needs.
Quick and easy read. It's obviously aimed at the casual reader, not the academic, and that's me. He mentions the various controversies about Houston at the end of the book, that not everyone agrees with his depictions of how various decisions were made, etc. I'm glad he does that, but in the end it's not a big difference to me. The story is inspiring and is probably "true enough" regardless. An easy recommendation for anyone remotely interested in the history of the Alamo and the aftermath leading to the founding of Texas as an independent nation then a US state.
Sorta around sometimes for some of your shitty mod needs.
Just finished reading Sword and Scimitar: Fourteen Centuries of War between Islam and the West. It was a real barn-burner, and I was able to read it with severe enthusiasm. Aside from a general history of the two entities, eight battles in particular are discussed.
The author’s parents are Copts, and the author himself did graduate work under Victor Davis Hanson. The book advances a very particular view on its topic. The author is fluent in Arabic and has an excellent scholarship of various sources.
What people have done, for real, remains to me more curious and fascinating than most of what I can find in fiction.
Per the PF Code of Conduct, I have a commercial interest in the StreakTM product as sold by Ammo, Inc.
I reread To Hell and Back yesterday on the date Audie Murphy stood on a burning Tank Destroyer manning the M2 while calling artillery on his position stopping a German armor attack.
Just a dog chauffeur that used to hold the dumb end of the leash.
Finished this and learned a lot of history about an era and time and place I wanted know more about, which was the point. The book was let down at times by the author’s uncritical cultural chauvinism, generally taking the form of assuming that Apaches were “uncivilized” and that their spiritual beliefs were inferior.
I'm a couple chapters deep into: https://www.amazon.com/Other-Minds-O.../dp/0374227764
Other Minds: The Octopus, the Sea, and the Deep Origins of Consciousness
I don't have the background to know if what he's saying is true or not @RevolverRob is probably much more suited for that. Going with the assumption that his rendition of the underlying science into something suitable for laymen is accurate, it's an extremely interesting book so far.
Last edited by BehindBlueI's; 01-29-2020 at 04:12 PM.
Sorta around sometimes for some of your shitty mod needs.
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