(August 3, 2014 at 1:55 am)Pickup_shonuff Wrote: I gotta say, Lucretius (first-century B.C.), whose "The Nature of Things" I just began reading, is mind-boggingly good and in many respects far ahead of his time!
He's my favorite too. One of the best verses in the whole poem is "Tantum religio potuit suadere malorum" (such evil could religion suggest) which refers to Agamennon sacrificing his daughter Iphigenia but which I think is a sadly recurring truth in human history.
"Every luxury has a deep price. Every indulgence, a cosmic cost. Each fiber of pleasure you experience causes equivalent pain somewhere else. This is the first law of emodynamics [sic]. Joy can be neither created nor destroyed. The balance of happiness is constant.
Fact: Every time you eat a bite of cake, someone gets horsewhipped.
Facter: Every time two people kiss, an orphanage collapses.
Factest: Every time a baby is born, an innocent animal is severely mocked for its physical appearance. Don't be a pleasure hog. Your every smile is a dagger. Happiness is murder.
Vote "yes" on Proposition 1321. Think of some kids. Some kids."
Fact: Every time you eat a bite of cake, someone gets horsewhipped.
Facter: Every time two people kiss, an orphanage collapses.
Factest: Every time a baby is born, an innocent animal is severely mocked for its physical appearance. Don't be a pleasure hog. Your every smile is a dagger. Happiness is murder.
Vote "yes" on Proposition 1321. Think of some kids. Some kids."
