In Praise of Virtue (grace, disciple, atheist, Jews)
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He [the writer] must teach himself that the basest of all things is to be afraid and, teaching
himself that, forget it forever, leaving no room in his workshop for anything but the old verities
and truths of the heart, the old universal truths lacking which any story is ephemeral and doomed
— love and honor and pity and pride and compassion and sacrifice.
I believe man will not merely endure, he will prevail. He is immortal, not because he, alone
among creatures, has an inexhaustible voice but because he has a soul, a spirit capable of
compassion and sacrifice and endurance.
I don't want to start a fight here - let Mahayana post his claims ..whatever they are...and welcome. But it just struck me that this William Faulkner looked a bit of a twit, going by his speech. So what did he get his award for? Science? Philosophy? Politics?
It was for writing novels and screenplay. So how does he work as an authority for whatever argument is being made?
This is why i had to post. What we seem to be getting is the Other side of the 'misuse of analogy' argument which I would love to see called 'Arq's fallacy' - using analogy to try to prove something rather than illustrate in a simpler analogy a known tuth that is difficult to understand.
The Heads of the coin is Pauline misuse of scripture, quotemining out of context, 'Prophecy' by fiddling the OT to fit the new or inventing the NT events to fit the OT passages (The deaths of Judas is an example of the former and John's spear -thrust appears to be an example of the latter). Paul (notably in Romans) worked out his own Doctrinal Theory and used OT passages (often out of context and misused) to support his thesis. While it might be possible that he was just using these passages to illustrate his point, I'm pretty sure that he was treating them as 'prophecy'; effectively using OT passages as evidence of what he was arguing.
Which is why we get this odd business of just lifting Anything that seems to endorse what is being argued. If it's an Authority, that's good. Einstein is the best if one can fiddle it, but a winner of a Nobel prize for piano playing will do at a pinch.
I don't want to start a fight here - let Mahayana post his claims ..whatever they are...and welcome. But it just struck me that this William Faulkner looked a bit of a twit, going by his speech. So what did he get his award for? Science? Philosophy? Politics?
It was for writing novels and screenplay. So how does he work as an authority for whatever argument is being made?
This thread I called "In Praise of Virtue". Praise is not contention or argument from authority or any other kind of dispute. Human society is always in need of Virtue, ethics & morality, especially in these times.
That was the only purpose, and I encourage others to post quotes they like, which praise virtue or ethics or morality.
So it's more a thread in praise of 'virtue' (which I'd agree with - from a humanist-ethical point of view) and calling for any verse (not implying any Authority) ..just praising it.
That's fine and i withdraw my objection.
In fact I'll post (from memory) a passage from one of the most impressive philosophers I know (beats a lot of the ones that roll up here talking the utterest tosh) Charles Schultz
(Shermy) "I've got this whole Santa -thing sorted out, Charlie Brown. If Santa's real, he's going to be too nice not to bring me any presents, no matter how bad i behave, right? And, if he Isn't real, I haven't lost anything, right? Right!"
For it is not Nature’s way to let good ever do harm to good; between good men and the gods exists a friendship sealed by virtue. Friendship, do I say? No, rather it is a bond of relationship and similarity, since undoubtedly a good man differs from God only in the sphere of time; he is God’s pupil and imitator, his true offspring whom that illustrious parent, no gentle trainer in virtue, rears with severity, as strict fathers do.
If men used as much care in uprooting vices and implanting virtues as they do in discussing problems, there would not be so much evil and scandal in the world, or such laxity in religious organizations.
Imitation of Christ, Croft-Bolton translation
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is Pauline misuse of scripture, quotemining out of context, 'Prophecy' by fiddling the OT to fit the new or inventing the NT events to fit the OT passages (The deaths 
of Judas is an example of the former and John's spear -thrust appears to be an example of the latter). Paul (notably in Romans) worked out his own Doctrinal Theory and used OT passages (often out of context and misused) to support his thesis. While it might be possible that he was just using these passages to illustrate his point, I'm pretty sure that he was treating them as 'prophecy'; effectively using OT passages as evidence of what he was arguing.
