Sunday, October 4, 2015

You lack culture, noble sir

According to Anton Chekhov, anyhow:
They are sincere, and dread lying like fire. They don’t lie even in small things. A lie is insulting to the listener and puts him in a lower position in the eyes of the speaker. They do not pose, they behave in the street as they do at home, they do not show off before their humbler comrades. They are not given to babbling and forcing their uninvited confidences on others. Out of respect for other people’s ears they more often keep silent than talk.

They do not disparage themselves to rouse compassion. They do not play on the strings of other people’s hearts so that they may sigh and make much of them. They do not say “I am misunderstood,” or “I have become second-rate,” because all this is striving after cheap effect, is vulgar, stale, false….
Translation from the Russian: don't be Gamma.

10 comments:

bub said...

Lying is akin to murder, the murder of truth. The Truth shall set you free.

Sokrates said...

Being Alpha has a lot to do with what was called "aristocratic" in former times which has nothing to do with snobism. But there are only few people who can keep up a "high attitude" facing the mediocracy and nastyness of ordinary people.

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Zorro said...

If it wouldn't kill you, you might consider adding a glossary of these terms you repeatedly use: Alpha, beta, gamma, delta, omega...

I've read several books on wolf pack hierarchies, and they only have alpha and beta.

WTF dude?! Is this Dungeons and Dragons for humans?

Hammerli 280 said...

He has, it's over on the left as "The Socio-Sexual Hierarchy".

Revelation Means Hope said...

@Zorro, I must say I'm impressed.
you're the first person I've encountered who has " read several books on wolf pack hierarchies".

I must confess I didn't even know that there were any entire books about wolf pack hierarchies. I have read several articles about them though, mostly during my days of research on training my dogs.

Anonymous said...

I look forward to learning more about wolf-pack hierarchies.

Desiderius said...

Chekov, like (Walker) Percy, started out as a pathologist before becoming a writer. They both remained pathologists, never more than in their writing.

SciVo said...

According to my research, werewolf-pack hierarchies include alphas, super-alphas that dominate meta-packs, normal schmucks who try too hard, and omegas, who are magical submissives that make everyone else calmer by their very presence. I'm certain that my research will be useful in the real world.

SciVo said...

That was sarcasm. Just in case anyone didn't get it.

S. Thermite said...

"I'm a one-man wolf pack"

Oops...that's a movie quote

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