Sunday, June 7, 2015

great fortune, great crime

Received in email:
Sometimes dubiously attributed to Honoré de Balzac is the trenchant quote
Behind every great fortune there is a [great] crime.
As a social barb, the observation holds a lot of water. Pick a fortune -- any fortune -- and the criminal costs may be well camouflaged in wonder and praise, but the particulars are sometimes as cruel as the wonder is wonderful.

But besides applying this yardstick to the environment in which anyone might find him/herself, I think it is advisable to turn the microscope within: What are the costs and cruelties, if any, to the great good fortune that might befall any traveler? The question is not meant to imply that an intemperate gloom or skepticism needs to be affixed to every aspect of life -- womb, gloom, tomb -- but rather that a little balance makes better sense and results in a less shattered outcome.

"You can't make and omelet without cracking eggs." Is there some reason to skirt or obscure the fact? Nothing wrong with a little delight. Nothing wrong with a little care.

Take spiritual endeavor as an example....

1 comment:

  1. I think i can understand the urge. Maybe one builds a business honestly, then finds it threatened by circumstance or competition. A sense of responsibility to employees and customers, not wanting ones life work to crash on the rocks. So maybe a minor bit of crime or underhandedness seems reasonable if not needful.

    But then there's that slippery slope thing that's touted for political reasons. The number of employees gets bigger, more customers, a larger personal monument and investment. And away we go. Then again... some of them probably started out as crooks and built on that.

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