david strasser

Paltry affectation, strained allusions, and disgusting finery are easily attained by those who choose to wear them; they are but too frequently the badges of ignorance or of stupidity, whenever it would endeavor to please.
—Oliver Goldsmith

Wednesday, July 03, 2019

Post #2863

When Cicero consulted the oracle at Delphos, concerning what course of studies he should pursue, the answer was, “Follow Nature.” If every one would do this, affectation would be almost unknown.
—J. Beaumont

Tuesday, July 02, 2019

Post #2862

No affections and a great brain,—these are the men to command the world.
—Benjamin Disraeli

Monday, July 01, 2019

Post #2861

The greatest trust between man and man is the trust of giving counsel.
—Francis Bacon

Friday, June 28, 2019

Post #2860

Prosperity is no just scale; adversity is the only balance to weigh friends.
—Plutarch

Thursday, June 27, 2019

Post #2859

Abuse is the weapon of the vulgar.
—Samuel Griswold Goodrich

Wednesday, June 26, 2019

Post #2858

Every madman thinks all other men mad.
—Publius Syrus

Tuesday, June 25, 2019

Post #2857

He is gifted with genius who knoweth much by natural inspiration.
—Pindar

Monday, June 24, 2019

Post #2856

Inspiration is solitary, never consecutive.

—Alphonse de Lamartine

The Penalty of Leadership

In every field of human endeavor, he that is first must perpetually live in the white light of publicity. ¶Whether the leadership be vested in a man or in a manufactured product, emulation and envy are ever at work. ¶In art, in literature, in music, in industry, the reward and the punishment are always the same. ¶The reward is widespread recognition; the punishment, fierce denial and detraction. ¶When a man’s work becomes a standard for the whole world, it also becomes a target for the shafts of the envious few. ¶If his work be mediocre, he will be left severely alone – if he achieve a masterpiece, it will set a million tongues a -wagging. ¶Jealousy does not protrude its forked tongue at the artist who produces a commonplace painting. ¶Whatsoever you write, or paint, or play, or sing, or build, no one will strive to surpass or to slander you unless your work be stamped with the seal of genius. ¶Long, long after a great work or a good work has been done, those who are disappointed or envious, continue to cry out that it cannot be done. Spiteful little voices in the domain of art were raised against our own Whistler as a mountebank, long after the big world had acclaimed him its greatest artistic genius. ¶Multitudes flocked to Bayreuth to worship at the musical shrine of Wagner, while the little group of those whom he had dethroned and displaced argued angrily that he was no musician at all. ¶The little world continued to protest that Fulton could never build a steamboat, while the big world flocked to the river banks to see his boat steam by. ¶The leader is assailed because he is a leader, and the effort to equal him is merely added proof of that leadership. Failing to equal or to excel, the follower seeks to depreciate and to destroy – but only confirms once more the superiority of that which he strives to supplant. ¶There is nothing new in this. It is as old as the world and as old as human passions – envy, fear, greed, ambition, and the desire to surpass. ¶And it all avails nothing. ¶If the leader truly leads, he remains – the leader. ¶Master-poet, master-painter, master-workman, each in his turn is assailed, and each holds his laurels through the ages. ¶That which is good or great makes itself known, no matter how loud the clamor of denial. ¶That which deserves to live — lives.
written by Theodore F. MacManus

david strasser

Friday, July 12, 2019

Post #2870

Thursday, July 11, 2019

Post #2869

Wednesday, July 10, 2019

Post #2868

Tuesday, July 09, 2019

Post #2867

Monday, July 08, 2019

Post #2866

Friday, July 05, 2019

Post #2865

Thursday, July 04, 2019

Post #2864