Friday, August 12, 2011

To see all others faults, and feel our own

James Geary's The World in a Phrase: A Brief History of the Aphorism. All sorts of little insights pop up as I read along.

I knew the phrase "The moving finger writes; and, having writ, moves on" but did not realize it came from Edward Fitzgerald's translation of The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam
The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ,
Moves on: nor all thy Piety nor Wit
Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line,
Nor all thy Tears wash out a Word of it.
Likewise, as a teenager, I was particularly taken with Aldous Huxley's The Doors of Perception. If I ever knew it, I had forgotten that the title came from William Blake (of course):
If the doors of perception were cleansed every thing would appear to man as it is, infinite.
Then there is Alexander Pope's profoundly humble and humane:
In Parts superior what advantage lies?
Tell (for You can) what is it to be wise?
'Tis but to know how little can be known;
To see all others faults, and feel our own.

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