A Quotable Quotes Column
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Letters of eclectic commentary featuring the wit and wisdom of a garrulous geezer and {Dana}, a persistent hallucination and charming literary device.
"The road to hell is paved with good intentions." -?
Dear Gentlereaders,
When I went a-googlin' and asked the algorithm to search the WWCK (worldwide web of contradictory knowledge) to find out who first said virtue is its own reward I discovered that we don't really know.
The answer I got was:
Search Labs | AI Overview
(With a cute little blue beaker emoji preceding it indicating there was scientific stuff going on here) and then...
"The idea that virtue is its own reward was widespread among ancient philosophers and poets. Some people who have said this include:"
This was followed by links to Socrates, Seneca, and Blessed John Henry Newman,...
And finally: "The Latin expression for the idea that virtue is its own reward is Ipsa sibi merces rerum pulcherrima Virtus."
If you've always wanted to memorize this particular proverb in Latin and put it in your pocket in case it might come in handy when you're trying to impress people at social functions or when you're trying to pick up a dude/dudette/other at Starbucks, here ya go.
For those gentlereaders not in the know, if you were to search the term what is search labs? you would discover that "Google Search Labs is a program that allows users to try out and then provide feedback on early-stage Google search experiences. The program's main purpose is to help Google experiment with new ideas and determine what works and what doesn't."
This is Googspeak for "We make most of our money by keeping track of everything you do while following you around online and using the information we collect to sell ads and the data necessary for ads to follow you all over the WWCK. Did you think we weren't going to use the data you so willingly provide to develop our version of an artificial intelligence so that we can make money before AI kills us all in our sleep?"
(Or some variation of same as exactly what answer you get depends on all sorts of things we mere mortals are not privy to.)
{Wait-wait-wait. You opted in when they first offered to add this to your searches. I'm sure you can opt out now if it bothers you so much.}
It doesn't bother me. I adopted the Borg mission statement a long time ago (Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated?) but I did try to discover if it was actually possible to get rid of it, just for the hell of it, and failed. Never a 10-year-old around when you need one.
{You know, there are ways to surf the WWCK completely anonymously and even access the DARK WEB where the drug dealers, arms dealers, and various and sundry perverts lurk.}
I'll betcha a bottleahpop (that's soda pop for some of you) that there's any number of nerds working for a given government (and other shady organizations) that can follow you down any given electronic rabbit hole.
{You're paranoid.}
You're not, Dana?
Anyway, it's Cicero I was interested in and fortunately he was linked to further down the page. One of the many things I love about the WWCK is that if you keep on scrollin' and clickin' you can eventually get the answer you want.
Sister Mary McGillicuddy taught me that Mx. Cicero...
(Ever wonder what Mx. is short for? Well, it isn't. According to our friend Search Labs "Mx. is a gender-neutral title used for people who don't identify as male or female, or who don't want their gender specified. It's pronounced like 'mix' or 'mux.'
Personally, I prefer mix. "Mix Masters! How are you today?" No wait..."Mux Musk! How are you today?" I like 'em both.
S'tr M.M. was the one who taught me that Mx. Cicero said that virtue is its own reward. I'm sure she was aware of the information I so helpfully supplied above and more, about the proverb I mean, the WWCK didn't exist yet. She was just keepin' it simple, this was grade school after all.
Besides, she was primarily interested in teaching us fledgling Catholics about how and why we should go about being virtuous. She thought that virtue needs to, in fact should be, taught to the young, that it doesn't come pre-installed. Fortunately, many people nowadays know better and raise their kids without burdening them with stale, preconceived notions.
The reason I'm interested in Cicero, regarded by history as a more or less virtuous man person, is because he was murdered by order of one General Mark Antony, one of his political enemies, who took him out when a chance to do so legally came along.
Antony also had his head and hands nailed to a wall and Antony's lovely wife Fulvia is said to have pulled out his tongue and jabbed it with her hairpin to mock Mx. Cicero. The famous orator had been using his skills to attempt to thwart Mx. Antony and friends from converting Rome from a constitutional republic to an autocratic empire run by an emperor.
{Who hasn't heard of that tired old chestnut, what's your point? Wait, you're not going to start talking about the Donald, are you?}
Here we go, politics. Who said anything about politics? Donald the dick-tater is just campaign rhetoric. An awful lot of members of both the Red Tribe and the Blue Tribe believe the worst about the other team thanks to the ability and willingness of the powers that be to hypnotize the masses for their own often nefarious ends.
You still need an army or two and lots of bloodshed to make yourself a traditional dick-tater but that sort of thing does a number on the economy which (almost) nobody in this country wants. That's why we just elect a temporary King of America every four years.
Of course, that's no longer easy. Our voting system's all screwed up, many people don't trust it. For some mysterious reason, we can't all just go to the polls on the same day and vote on paper (so it's easy to perform an audit if necessary) and know who the temporary king is by the next morning, like we used to.
{Sheesh, sorry I brought it up.}
All I'm saying is that there's a dark side to the proverb in question that kids should be made aware of, but like drag queens, not till adolescence rears its ugly head. Let kids be kids for a minute, keep it simple, and build firm foundations first.
[INSERT VIRTUE SIGNAL HERE] Once upon a time I had a charming, funny, and flamboyant friend who was a drag queen on the weekends. He was, and hopefully still is (hi, Sam, wherever you are) a lovely gentleperson — who I suspect would find drag queen story hours appalling.
I'm not saying that you shouldn't strive to be virtuous in any given situation, but while taking the high road, doing the right thing, etc. can be its own reward, it may well be its only reward because...
{Balderdash! I know I'm gonna go to heaven.}
Because...
{Because you might wind up with your head and hands nailed to...}
Because there's a part two, a big BUT: the road to hell is paved with good intentions. These two truisms are stamped on opposite sides of the same coin.
For the record, I'm a firm believer in virtue. In fact, there's a tab on this/my website labeled The Golden Mean that provides a link to a short video created by the CrashCourse people titled Aristotle & Virtue Theory. Mx. Aristotle is the man person when it comes to virtue, at least in my semi-humble opinion.
Unfortunately, choosing to try and be a virtuous person may not necessarily end well, as Mx. Cicero learned the hard way. I speak of the here and now, of daily life on planet Earth, not of what may or not happen to you after you die. Whatever your feelings on that subject is your business though I have to note that belief in an afterlife, particularly the heaven v. hell version, provides a certain clarification.
We must be aware that we may not get the pats on the back, recognition, or gratitude we think we're entitled to. Such is life. Pat yourself on the back for taking the high road and be proud of yourself, you may have just changed the world for the better, at least a little bit — but don't waste your time and energy pouting or feeling self-righteous when you don't get a prize.
More importantly, most importantly, tread lightly, carefully, and thoughtfully. Aristotle advises us to look for the golden mean, that is to say, avoid extremes.
An (admittedly extreme) example: the well-meaning "neocons" reacted to the murder of innocents on 9/11 by delivering a well-deserved hammer blow to the Taliban who were harboring Bin Laden to let them know we weren't a nation of pacifists and that there was a price to be paid. To not respond at all (one extreme) would be to invite more terrorism.
But they then took it upon themselves to remove and replace the corrupt governments of Afghanistan and Iraq with democratic republics, the other extreme. Military power is real, the power to radically alter ancient cultures with radically different worldviews than ours is not.
All's well that ends well...but not everything ends well.
Colonel Cranky
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