Kiradawea2010-11-08 17:52:35
I stumbled over the Paradoxical Commandments today while surfing on the net.
Me. I think it's a very good call to action and idealism. My friend read it differently.
What do you think?
QUOTE
The Paradoxical Commandments
by Dr. Kent M. Keith
People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered.
Love them anyway.
If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives.
Do good anyway.
If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies.
Succeed anyway.
The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.
Do good anyway.
Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.
Be honest and frank anyway.
The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds.
Think big anyway.
People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs.
Fight for a few underdogs anyway.
What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.
Build anyway.
People really need help but may attack you if you do help them.
Help people anyway.
Give the world the best you have and you'll get kicked in the teeth.
Give the world the best you have anyway.
by Dr. Kent M. Keith
People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered.
Love them anyway.
If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives.
Do good anyway.
If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies.
Succeed anyway.
The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.
Do good anyway.
Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.
Be honest and frank anyway.
The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds.
Think big anyway.
People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs.
Fight for a few underdogs anyway.
What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.
Build anyway.
People really need help but may attack you if you do help them.
Help people anyway.
Give the world the best you have and you'll get kicked in the teeth.
Give the world the best you have anyway.
Me. I think it's a very good call to action and idealism. My friend read it differently.
What do you think?
Rodngar2010-11-08 20:51:14
It feels like a call not for benevolence, but at least for positivity.
Lilia2010-11-08 20:56:52
I'm very idealistic, so I read it like Kiradawea did. I've always had trouble coming to terms with the fact that being nice to other people is not everyone's default behavior.
Unknown2010-11-08 21:07:48
It certainly isn't overt idealism, considering it flat out states the (realistically) pessimistic outcomes of some idealism. Boiling it down you get "Be a Good and Active Person Because You Can", which from personal experience in the very least can make you feel good about yourself and what you're doing.
Unknown2010-11-08 21:11:36
It comes off as something similar to "The best form of revenge is to live a good life". Be what people should be, not what they are.
Shiri2010-11-09 05:24:12
I don't know if calling those realistic outcomes means it isn't idealistic when it then says to ignore them anyway.
Furien2010-11-09 05:30:40
QUOTE (Othero @ Nov 8 2010, 01:11 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
It comes off as something similar to "The best form of revenge is to live a good life". Be what people should be, not what they are.
^ + the rest
Llesvelt2010-11-09 07:05:47
I like them, they make me quite happy, actually.
Echo a good deal of my thoughts, so I can identify with it.
Echo a good deal of my thoughts, so I can identify with it.
Casilu2010-11-09 07:33:38
This was the first thing that popped into my head when I read this. I have no idea why.
Kiradawea2010-11-09 08:00:18
I'm thinking it to be a bit of "You don't have to be naive to be idealistic. Realising that bad things happen, and still doing what's good is what makes you better."
Shiri2010-11-09 08:09:21
A couple of them are really egregious, now that I look at it. The "be successful" one and the "be honest and frank" one, the former because it's like some dubious exhortation you can't necessarily fulfil even if you try your best, and the latter because that actually is straight up naive, lies or half-truths are better than honesty too often to disregard.
EDIT: You could call the "think big" one a bit dubious too, but I'm open to convincing that I just misunderstood that one.
EDIT: You could call the "think big" one a bit dubious too, but I'm open to convincing that I just misunderstood that one.
Kiradawea2010-11-09 08:35:42
Being honest and frank does not tact, so I don't see how being honest could be construed as a bad thing. And being successful is just a call to not inhibit yourself. It doesn't say that you MUST succeed, but that you should aim for the moon, even if people will try to use you and hate you for it.
