ripock
Well-known member
There was a rather strange post about not understanding ornamented ukes. What's not to understand? It isn't recondite; pretty things are pretty. It is nice to have nice things. I could cover my nakedness with a trash bag with holes to accommodate my limbs but I wear a suit that doesn't perform the function any better than a trash bag.
What's money for, if you don't buy a fancy uke. Are you supposed to save it so that your descendants can spend it?
I am seeing a connection with my favorite Latin poet, Horatius, on this theme. Horatius advocates spending...within reason. Horatius would say not to be wasteful but don't scrimp either.
Speaking of Horatius, I read at the pub last night his 6th epistle addressed to someone named Numicius. It was strange. The book of epistles has a pretense in which Horatius claims to have eschewed poetry for philosophy, but then he writes five epistles in verse which don't have much to do with philosophy. But in the 6th epistle he actually is philosophical, sort of. For the first half of the epistle he instructs Numicius on how to live well and he describes to Numicius the necessity of being aloof: to neither be obsessed with a goal nor afraid of losing the benefit of that goal. This is obviously just the Stoic principle of ataraxia. However, towards the last third of the epistle, Horatius undercuts his narrative by saying essentially "or not." He says that if you want to live the good life do what he's said or if you'd rather pursue some goal other than virtue, then just do it thoroughly.
What's money for, if you don't buy a fancy uke. Are you supposed to save it so that your descendants can spend it?
I am seeing a connection with my favorite Latin poet, Horatius, on this theme. Horatius advocates spending...within reason. Horatius would say not to be wasteful but don't scrimp either.
Speaking of Horatius, I read at the pub last night his 6th epistle addressed to someone named Numicius. It was strange. The book of epistles has a pretense in which Horatius claims to have eschewed poetry for philosophy, but then he writes five epistles in verse which don't have much to do with philosophy. But in the 6th epistle he actually is philosophical, sort of. For the first half of the epistle he instructs Numicius on how to live well and he describes to Numicius the necessity of being aloof: to neither be obsessed with a goal nor afraid of losing the benefit of that goal. This is obviously just the Stoic principle of ataraxia. However, towards the last third of the epistle, Horatius undercuts his narrative by saying essentially "or not." He says that if you want to live the good life do what he's said or if you'd rather pursue some goal other than virtue, then just do it thoroughly.