Topical Guide 210
Mark Dorset
Expectations: Dangers of
Fortune Cookie Wisdom
OF COURSE, things rarely happen as we expect they will.
Little Follies, “The Young Tars”
Journey Versus Destination; Process Versus Result
Fortune Cookie Wisdom
Mr. Summers called for quiet, had us sit cross-legged on the gym floor, in a rough circle around him, and outlined his vision for the Young Tars.
“Lads,” he said, “today we have begun a great journey, the voyage of the Tars.”
Excitement rippled through the group; this sounded like fun.
“Now, you might be asking yourselves,” he continued, “‘Where are we going on this journey?’ … Our destination, lads, is the horizon, and the horizon is all around us, so we can’t miss it! On the other hand, the horizon is unattainable, so it doesn’t really matter whether we get there! And that’s my point,” he said. … “We’re going ‘Onward, ever onward,’ because that’s our motto. It’s the journey that counts, lads, not the destination, and we’re embarking on that journey together.”Little Follies, “The Young Tars”
He who aims at progress, should aim at an infinite, not at a special benefit. . . . The soul can be appeased not by a deed but by a tendency. …
The imaginative faculty of the soul must be fed with objects immense and eternal.
Your end should be one inapprehensible to the senses: then it will be a good always approached,—never touched; always giving health.Ralph Waldo Emerson, “The Method of Nature”
Distinction or Status: Desire for
Fortune Cookie Wisdom
“If anyone breaches these basic rules of good conduct,” said Mr. Summers, “I want to know about it. I want names. I want details. I want to know the time and place of the transgression. I want the names of witnesses. I want each of you to carry a small notebook—”
I was already carrying a small notebook, the one in which I had written my easy-come-easy-go speech, so I perked up at this remark, recognizing an opportunity to distinguish myself. I whipped out the notebook and waved it at Mr. Summers.Little Follies, “The Young Tars”
See also: Disappointment TG 87; Anticipation, Disappointment TG 98; Fortune Cookie Wisdom TG 37; TG 74; TG 109; Distinction or Status: Desire for TG 104
[more to come on Tuesday, March 8, 2022]
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