I
t’s pretty easy to end up going down a rabbit hole. Not the sort where furry little, long-eared, hippity-hopping critters live, though. Rather, the kind we’re hearing more and more about these days. From people who have gotten sucked into spending way too much time chasing drivel on the internet. That is…  as a metaphor for distraction.

This idiom comes from Lewis Carroll’s beloved novel Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Alice is intrigued by a white rabbit she sees checking the time on a pocket watch, so she follows him down a rabbit hole. Sounds a lot like when we see something on the internet that intrigues us enough to follow it down a digital rabbit-hole, keeping us scrolling for hours.

And Alice falls for a very long time, seeing all sorts of unusual yet useless objects on the way down. Rather like those prolonged, unproductive trips down the digital rabbit-holes we fall into chasing memes. It’s something you probably don’t want to make a habit of.

And boy howdy, do they deliver! It’s exactly the type of endeavor we can really get behind here at This Book is Banned. Especially since it isn’t just young adult novels and classic works that are being banned. Believe it or not, children’s literature – even picture books – are targeted too.

Here’s a trail map
for your adventure.

And a list of books
you’ll encounter in this wonderland.

#Aphorisms Unplugged

Endnotes:

[1] The Rabbit Hole.org  https://www.rabbitholekc.org/overview

Images:

Down a Rabbit Hole:  Photo by Mr Xerty on Unsplash

G
ood fences make good neighbors. It’s true that a good sturdy fence will prevent my dog from digging up my neighbor’s rose garden. And back in the day, a dry-stack stone wall would keep my cows where they belong.

But these days, this aphorism is commonly understood metaphorically, to mean people get along better when their privacy and personal space are respected. And it’s typically uttered as a round-about way of advising someone to mind their own business.

And the first printed appearance of the precise phrase we use today occurred in Blum’s Farmer’s and Planter’s Almanac for 1850.[3] But it was Robert Frost’s poem Mending Wall in 1914 that put the hitherto infrequently invoked aphorism on the map, so to speak.[4]

Mending Wall
In Its Entirety

Pair this with

 Aphorisms Unplugged:
I Took the Road Less Traveled By…

Endnotes:

[1] [Winthrop, John. Winthrop Papers. 5 vols. Boston, Mass.: Massachusetts Historical Society, 1929-47. Vol 4. Pg 282.

[2] Brooks, Van Wyck, ed. Benjamin Franklin: Poor Richard’s Almanacks for the Years 1733-1758. New

York: Bonanza Books, 1979.

[3] Blum’s Farmer’s and Planter’s Almanac for the year 1850. Salem, N.C.: L.V. Blum, 1850. Pg 13.

[4] Mieder, Wolfgang. “Good Fences Make Good Neighbours”: History and Significance of an Ambiguous Proverb.” Folklore. Vol 114, Pg 162.

[5] Frost, Robert. Selected Letters. Ed. By Lawrance Roger Thompson. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1964. Pg 344

Images:

Good Fences Make Good Neighbors: Photo by Randy Fath on Unsplash

The Origin of “Good Fences Make Good Neighbors: Photo by Fredrik Ivansson on Unsplash

Trip The Reader:  Photo by Paul Hanaoka on Unsplash

Robert Frost Loves Irony: https://ratu.ai/biografi-robert-frost/

T
he phrase “I took the road less traveled by, and that has made all the difference,” is typically seen as an anthem of independence. These words have been borrowed for everything from high-school commencement speeches to product advertisements to episode titles of over a dozen television series. We’ve seen this verse printed on t-shirts, coffee mugs, and refrigerator magnets just to name a few.[1]

But the closing lines of Frost’s poem aren’t actually a paean of bold self-assertion and uniqueness. In fact, as is often the case with such aphorisms, it’s quite the opposite. One reason this happens is that, quite simply, language evolves. To further complicate matters, all too often the context of these popular wisdoms has been forgotten.

In the case of  “I took the road less traveled by, and that has made all the difference,” the aphorism comes from a poem that is typically misinterpreted.

As Frost himself warned audiences, “you have to be careful of that one; it’s a tricky poem – very tricky.”[2] Even the person who inspired the poem didn’t “get it” at first. What, then, is Frost actually talking about?

What Inspired The Road Not Taken?

As with prose literature, when engaging poetry the author and their life experience comes into play.  Inspiration for The Road Not Taken came from Frost’s mirth over a personality trait of his closest friend in England, Edward Thomas.

While Frost was living in Gloucester, he and Thomas would take long walks through the countryside together. Repeatedly, Thomas would choose a route on the promise of showing his American friend rare wild-flowers or birds’ eggs, only to have the walk end in laments and self-reproach when his chosen path failed to produce any such marvels. Ribbing Thomas after one of their best flower-gathering walks, Frost chided, “No matter which road you take, you’ll always sigh, and wish you’d taken another.”[3]

After Frost returned to the U.S., where he finished The Road Not Taken, he sent a copy to Thomas. Frost’s expectation was that his friend would understand the poem as a joke, and respond with something along the lines of “very funny”…  “stop teasing me.” But as noted above, that isn’t what happened.

Instead, Thomas praised the poem, his remarks indicating he missed the joke. Much to Frost’s chagrin, he would have to explain to Thomas that he’d been the butt of a joke. And, not surprisingly, Thomas didn’t find it the least bit funny. Frost’s joke had pricked Thomas’ already wavering confidence.

None too pleased, Thomas declared he doubted anyone would see the poem as a joke unless they had Frost to personally guide them through it. Frost came to realize just how tricky The Road Not Taken is when he read it for a group of college students – who didn’t get it either. Frost ultimately extended a “Mea culpa” to his good friend.[4]

It’s a Tricky Poem… Very Tricky

A careful reading begins with Frost’s title. His poem isn’t called The Road Less Traveled, though it’s often mistaken to be. Rather, it is titled The Road Not Taken. So, the poem is definitely not about the road the narrator chose to walk, less-traveled or otherwise.

When The Road Not Taken is read carefully, it becomes apparent that the poem functions on a fluctuating rhythm, one that reflects indecisiveness. More significantly, it is evident that the narrator isn’t simply telling us about these vacillating perspectives, he’s experiencing these emotions in real time.

But, here’s where Frost’s trickiness can trip up a reader. Given the way Frost structured The Road Not Taken, when read superficially it can act as a verbal thaumatrope – rotating two opposed visions in such a way that they, deceivingly, seem to merge.

Much like the Victorian-era toy in which two objects drawn on opposite sides of a card – a bird and a cage for instance – are, by quick spinning motion, made to appear as a single image of the bird in a cage.[5] In the case of The Road Not Taken, the illusion is that the poem is from a consistent viewpoint rather than fluctuating perspectives.

But if we engage Frost’s work deeply, and take it line-by-line, we can see the shifts in perspective that lead to the more nuanced understanding Frost indicated.

Line 1: Frost introduces his primary symbol, diverging roads in the woods.

Lines 2-3: The speaker expresses regret for the human limitation that restricts his travel to one road, forcing him to choose between them. It’s clear that making a choice isn’t easy for him, since “long I stood” before reaching a decision.

Lines 4-5: He examines one road as well as he can, but information is limited because the road takes a turn into an area covered by low-lying vegetation.

Lines 6-8: At first blush, these lines seem to suggest the speaker finds the second path a more attractive choice because it appears no one had traversed it recently.

Lines 9-12: Here’s a tricky bit. The speaker backpedals, pointing out that this road is no more or less worn that the first one, that they both “equally lay in leaves no step had trodden black.”

Lines 13-15: Another slippery passage – the speaker tells himself he’ll take a walk on the first road another day. Given the exclamation point at the end of this line, he’s clearly excited about having solved his dilemma.  But, “knowing how way leads to way,” he immediately reverses himself, doubting if “I should ever come back.”

Lines 16-20: The tone clearly shifts here. The speaker is no longer in the moment. Rather, he imagines himself in the future, near the end of his days, talking about the life he’s lived. In perhaps the most subtle nugget of all, the speaker will be telling his audience that “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.”

The “I—I” ever-so-deftly suggests a pause before the speaker recounts the story, as if he’s taking a beat to remember/decide how to characterize his choice.[7]

Psychologically Speaking

The Latin origin of the verb “to decide” means to cut off (de=off, caedere=cut). The act of deciding is supposed to cut off the deliberation process after a choice has been made. But psychologically, that isn’t the way it works. Instead, the deliberation process actually binds the options together in our memory, and the unchosen option lingers in our minds.

This psychological development leads to an inverse inference of value. In other words, after we realize the consequences of our decision, the perceived value of the unchosen option is inversely related to that outcome. And the stronger our memory is of deliberating between options, the greater the disparity between the value attributed to the chosen and unchosen options.

For example, if Frost’s speaker ended up having a lovely walk on the road he ultimately chose, he’ll remember the other road as having been inferior in some way even if it wasn’t.[8] This phenomenon is commonly referred to as confirmation bias.  And, it’s precisely what occurs in the closing lines of The Road Not Taken.

Remember, he told us both roads were equally fair and equally traveled. And don’t forget the speaker’s pause, as he mines his memory before recounting his story in the future. Plus, we end where we began our examination of The Road Not Taken, by noting that Frost’s title refers to the road his speaker didn’t choose.

So, rather than being an anthem of independence, Frost’s The Road Not Taken is an ode to the decision-making process, and how that activity effects memory. Albeit one that closes with an ironic jest, a witticism meaning – in the parlance of a modern quip – “and that has made all the difference”…  not.

.

Check out more
aphorisms and idioms here.

#aphorisms unplugged           #the art of reading

Endnotes:

[1] Orr, David. “The Most Misread Poem in America.” September 11, 2015. The Paris Review.

[2] Thompson, Lawrance. Selected Letters of Robert Frost. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1952. Pg xv. https://ia801500.us.archive.org/15/items/in.ernet.dli.2015.111084/2015.111084.Selected-Letters-Of-Robert-Frost_text.pdf

[3] Thompson, Lawrance. Robert Frost: A biography. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1981. Pg 234.

Thompson, Lawrance. Selected Letters of Robert Frost. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1952. Pg xiv. https://ia801500.us.archive.org/15/items/in.ernet.dli.2015.111084/2015.111084.Selected-Letters-Of-Robert-Frost_text.pdf

Hollis, Matthew. “Edward Thomas, Robert Frost and the road to war.” July 26, 2011. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/jul/29/robert-frost-edward-thomas-poetry

[4] Hollis, Matthew. “Edward Thomas, Robert Frost and the road to war.” July 26, 2011. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/jul/29/robert-frost-edward-thomas-poetry

[5] Orr, David. “You’re Probably Misreading Robert Frost’s Most Famous Poem.” August 18, 2016. Literary Hub. https://lithub.com/youre-probably-misreading-robert-frosts-most-famous-poem/#:~:text=Because%20the%20poem%20isn’t,the%20road%20he%20never%20tried.

[6] Frost, Robert. “The Road Not Taken.” The Atlantic Magazine. August 1915, Pg. 223.

[7] “The Road Not Taken.” Encyclopedia.com https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/educational-magazines/road-not-taken

[8] Natalie Biderman, and Daphna Shohamy. “Memory and decision making interact to shape the value of unchosen options.” Nature Communications. 12, 4648 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-24907-x

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Images:

The Road Not Taken. iStock.com/credit: Alex

What Inspired The Road Not Taken? Boulter, Liz. “Roads taken: the Gloucrstershire footpaths that were the making of Robert Frost.” The Guardian. June, 2021.  https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2021/jun/14/walking-gloucestershire-footpaths-making-of-robert-frost-and-revolutionary-poets

It’a a Tricky Poem… Very Tricky  https://teacherswebresources.com/2016/03/28/victorian-thaumatrope/  

Taking it Line by Line Photo by Johnny Briggs on Unsplash

Psychologically Speaking  Photo by Yeshi Kangrang on Unsplash

L
uck of the Irish. We hear this expression most often around St. Patrick’s Day. And, it’s usually associated with leprechauns – the magical, smiling kind, like the one on boxes of Lucky Charms cereal.

So, when someone is said to have the Luck of the Irish, it’s understood to mean they have an unnatural tendency toward good fortune. However…  like a lot of other sayings, its original use tells a very different tale.

For starters, the leprechauns of Irish folklore are tricksy, mischievous little buggers (unlike the “wee person” represented by the General Mills company). According to Irish lore, they do indeed know the whereabouts of hidden treasure, but they can also be “bitterly malicious.”[1] So, even successful encounters with these supernatural beings are nothing short of treacherous.

Our “Lucky Charms” view of leprechauns is void of history and genuine Irish culture. Which is also the case with our current understanding of the expression “Luck of the Irish.”

A Decidedly Unlucky History.

As Irish satirist Jonathan Swift is credited with pointing out, historically speaking the luck of the Irish people has been positively abysmal.[2] Ireland was subordinated to English control beginning with Henry VIII, a conquest that began with a Norman invasion and was finally completed during the reigns of Elizabeth 1 and James 1.

Laws designed to fragment the estates of Irish landowners were put in place. And, like every successful colonizer, crown authorities employed brutal methods to squash resistance and exploit Ireland’s resources.[3]

An Gorta Mór

After centuries of such oppression, Ireland experienced an Gorta Mór  “The Great Hunger,” known to most of us as the “potato famine.”[4] A mid-famine sentiment regarding this devastating calamity is that “God sent the blight, but the English made the famine.”[5]

More than one historian has characterized Britain’s handling of the situation as a convenient opportunity to finally crush Irish refusal to toe the British line, which famously included an attachment to Catholicism.[6]

Whether exacerbated by socio-political motives or not, in a country of eight million, the famine resulted in the death of more than one million people.[7] And nearly two million departed Ireland, as emigration became the last refuge of a desperate people who saw it as their only hope of survival.[8]

A significant proportion of those emigrating made their way to the United States. And the trip across the Atlantic was no picnic. For many, the journey took place on what came to be known as “coffin ships,” so-titled because the mortality rate on these overcrowded ships was 30% or higher on some ships. This catastrophic mortality rate was caused by overcrowding, unsanitary conditions, malnutrition, and disease, a combination that ensured death was a constant presence.[9]

No Irish Need Apply

And when they got to America, the Irish refugees who survived their traumatic journey were frequently met with job listings and signs in places of business indicating “No Irish need apply.”[10] This attitude was fueled by images in media characterizing the Irish as uncivilized, depicting them with simian or pig-like features.[11]

What’s a recently landed son of Erin to do? Well…  the famine that drove so many Irish people from the nation of their birth happened to coincide with the California Gold Rush. Opportunity finally seemed to be knocking.

But availing themselves to this fortuitous prospect would entail another difficult journey for Irish immigrants, one that would require them to sail around the tip of South America, and would take four or five months to complete. If they could scrape together the funds for passage, that is.

An alternative to this lengthy sojourn was to take a shorter voyage to Panama, trek for a week through malarial territory using canoes and mules (risking not only malaria but cholera as well), then take another ship from the west coast of Panama to California.

Or they could travel over land, by way of the harsh western deserts and mountains, through (often hostile) Native American territory.[12]

Irish Gold Miners

However they got to California, these Irish gold miners clearly had a will to succeed and a drive to never give up. And that’s exactly what you need if you’re going to be digging and panning for gold.

This is not to say that other immigrants who made the same journey lacked a similar work ethic. But, the timing of the famine drove enough Irish immigrants to the gold rush that an inordinately high percentage of miners were Irish.

So, it only makes sense that a significant number of successful miners would be Irish. And, that’s precisely what happened. The most famous and successful miners were indeed of Irish descent.[13]

That’s the context the expression “Luck of the Irish” emerged from.

But as historian Edward T. O’Donnell points out, the phrase “carried with it a tone of derision as if to say, only by sheer luck, as opposed to brains, could these fools succeed.”[14] Which is nothing less than absurd given the work ethic required to be a successful gold miner, to say nothing of the grit and determination it took for these Irish immigrants to make it to California to begin with.

In Conclusion

Historically speaking the Irish were anything but lucky. What kind of luck gives rise to roughly centuries of invasion, colonization, exploitation, starvation and mass emigration?  Certainly not the kind we associate with the phrase “Luck of the Irish” on St. Patrick’s Day.

Not to mention the fact that the expression was originally intended as mockery, born of a certain jealousy, a sense of victimhood based in a lack of regard for Irish immigrants and what they had endured to make their way to America and become successful.

If you’ve ever had your hard work or years of preparation dismissed out of hand, then you have the Luck of the Irish as the expression was originally intended. If you, or someone you know has left their home country due to dire circumstances there, only to be despised and derided in the country they emigrate to in the hopes of a better life, they have the Luck of the Irish too.

Hopefully, knowing the original intent of this expression will give us pause as we throw it around next St. Patrick’s Day. Hopefully, knowing its original intent will remind us to acknowledge the hard work of those around us. And, hopefully… just maybe, it’ll help us recognize that others (especially those newly-arrived to the United  States) might have overcome tremendous adversity in order to achieve even a modicum of success.

#Luck of the Irish      #Aphorisms Unplugged     #The American Experience

Endnotes:

[1] Lady Wilde. Ancient Legends, Mystic Charms, and Superstitions of Ireland. Vol. 1. Boston: Tickner & Co., 1887.Pg 103.

[2] Lee, Peter. “Fancy some Irish luck? These Irish sayings about luck are for you.” Irish Central. https://www.irishcentral.com/culture/craic/fancy-some-irish-luck-these-irish-sayings-about-luck-are-for-you

[3] Miller, Kerby A. Emigrants and Exiles: Ireland and the Irish Exodus to North America. New York: Oxford University Press, 1985. Pp 16-25.

Lennon, Colm. Sixteenth Century Ireland – The Incomplete Conquest. Dublin: St. Martin’s Press,1995.

Canny, Nicholas P. The Elizabethan Conquest of Ireland: A Pattern Established, 1565–76. Sussex: Harvester Press Ltd, 1976.

[4] O’Neill, Joseph. The Irish Potato Famine. Edina, Minn.: ABDO Publishing Co., 2009. Pg 7.

[5] Bloy, Marjie. “The Irish Famine: 1845-9.” The Victorian Web. https://victorianweb.org/history/famine.html

[6] Coogan, Tim Pat. The Famine Plot: England’s  Role in Ireland’s Greatest Tragedy. New York: Palgrave McMillan, 2012.

Kinealy, Christine. This Great Calamity: The Irish Famine 1845-52. Boulder, Colorado: Roberts Rinehart Publishers, 1995.

O’Dowd, Niall. “Was the Irish Famine genocide by the British?” IrishCentral.com  Aug 20, 2018. https://www.irishcentral.com/news/irish-famine-genocide-british

[7] Kinealy, Christine. This Great Calamity: The Irish Famine 1845-52. Boulder, Colorado: Roberts Rinehart Publishers, 1995. Pg 251.

[8] Kinealy, Christine. This Great Calamity: The Irish Famine 1845-52. Boulder, Colorado: Roberts Rinehart Publishers, 1995. Pg 299.

O’Leary, Rachel. “Coffin Ships.” Irish Famine Exhibition. Dublin Museum. January 22, 2025.

[9] O’Leary, Rachel. “Coffin Ships.” Irish Famine Exhibition. Dublin Museum. January 22, 2025.

“Coffin ships: death and pestilence on the Atlantic.”  Irish Genealogy Toolkit. https://www.irish-genealogy-toolkit.com/coffin-ships.html

[10] Bulik, Mark. “1854: No Irish Need Apply.” September 8, 2015. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/08/insider/1854-no-irish-need-apply.html

[11] Forker, Martin. “The use of the ‘cartoonist’s armoury’ in manipulating public opinion: anti-Irish imagery in 19^th century British and American periodicals.” Journal of Irish Studies, 2012. Vol. 27 (2012) Pg. 59.

[12] Nolan, Philip. “How the Irish mined the gold rush.” Irish Daily Mail. August 10, 2019. https://www.pressreader.com/ireland/irish-daily-mail/20190810/282183652681471

[13] O’Donnell, Edward T. 1001 things everyone should know about Irish-American history. New York: Grammercy Books, 2002. Pg 226.

[14] O’Donnell, Edward T. 1001 things everyone should know about Irish-American history. New York: Grammercy Books, 2002. Pg 226.

Images:

Irish Clover:  Photo by Frames For Your Heart on Unsplash

Portrait of Jonathan  Swift: Charles Jervas (1718), National Gallery of Ireland. Public Domain.

An Gorta Mór : “Bridget O’Donnell.” Illustrated London News, December 22, 1849 – public domain.

No Irish Need Apply:  Bulik, Mark. “1854: No Irish Need Apply.” September 8, 2015. The New York Times.

Irish Gold Miner: ‘Ireland at the Diggings’: The Irish of the California Gold Rush Celebrate Home, 1853.” Irish in the American Civil War.

Celtic Knot: The Irish Road Trip.com

T
he phrase “turn the other cheek” has come to be interpreted as an admonishment to “just let it go.” But that understanding of this aphorism couldn’t be further from its original meaning.

“Turn the other cheek” is a Biblical reference, to a verse within Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount:

The Sermon on the Mount took place at a time when the Hebrew people were living under brutal Roman rule. So, think about who Jesus was talking to when he delivered that Sermon. Who was in that audience?  It was people who were being oppressed and persecuted on a daily basis.

Jesus prefaced this verse with the statement:

Yes, “an eye for an eye” is indeed intended to curb violence. It’s an expression of lex talionis, [3] “the principle or law of retaliation that a punishment inflicted should correspond in degree and kind to the offense of the wrongdoer.”[4]

But, Jesus’ message isn’t to not respond at all. Just don’t counter the offense with violence (equal or otherwise). Refuse to oppose mistreatment by mirroring its cruelty. What he is admonishing his audience to do, is assert their dignity in the face of oppression.[5]

Some Cultural Context.

How is offering someone a chance to mistreat you a second time asserting your dignity?

To understand the passage fully, we need to know a couple of things about ancient Mediterranean society. Jesus specified the “right cheek”. Why the right cheek? Because it indicates a back-handed slap, the kind intended to humiliate, degrade, and assert dominance.

And, how do we know it must be a back-handed slap? Because a punch, or striking with an open hand on the right cheek, would require it to be delivered with the offender’s left hand. And, in the absence of Charmin products, use of the left hand was restricted to personal hygiene. So, the left hand was considered culturally (not to mention literally) unclean.

Only the right hand was used for interpersonal interactions. Even when dealing with those regarded as inferior – as the Romans most assuredly considered the Hebrew people to be. Using the left hand would bring shame onto the person doing the striking. Therefore, the only possible blow to someone’s right cheek using the right hand was a back-handed slap.[6]

And, paradoxical as it may seem, turning the other cheek is not an invitation for continued abuse. It’s intended to force the aggressor (in this case a Roman soldier) into a moral/cultural crisis.[7]

Due to the aforementioned pre-Charmin restrictions, it isn’t possible to strike the left cheek with a back-handed slap. Since the soldier in question must use his right hand to clout the victim, the only possible blow to the victim’s left cheek is an open-handed slap or a punch.

The problem for a Roman soldier is that both of these gestures are only used in a conflict between equals. And, as with the prohibition to use the left hand for interpersonal interaction, doing otherwise would bring shame onto the person delivering the blows.

And, therein lies the moral/cultural dilemma. Does the soldier – who has clearly set out to establish dominance and humiliate the victim – shame himself by backhanding them with his left hand? Or does he treat a person the Roman empire has deemed inferior as though they are equal? It’s quite the conundrum.

In Conclusion

Jesus’ charge to turn the other cheek is clearly the call for a political act of nonviolent defiance. In his case, one directed toward a Roman oppressor.

We’ve seen similar acts of nonviolent defiance throughout American history. Responses to social injustice like the the National Woman’s Party picketing the White House during their suffrage campaign. Lunch counter sit-ins during the Civil Rights movement. The Black Lives Matter movement, as pictured above. Or the way citizens of Minneapolis blow whistles to alert their immigrant neighbors to the arrival of ICE agents.

And, that’s a far cry from the passive act of “just letting it go.”

Pair this with

Endnotes:

[1] Matthew 5:39. The New Oxford Annotated Bible. An Ecumenical Study Bible. Edited by Herbert G. May and Bruce M. Metzger. New York: Oxford University Press.

[2] Matthew 5:38. The New Oxford Annotated Bible. An Ecumenical Study Bible. Edited by Herbert G. May and Bruce M. Metzger. New York: Oxford University Press.

[3] “What Jesus Meant By ‘Turn the Other Cheek’ in Matthew 5:39. BibleProject. https://bibleproject.com/articles/what-jesus-meant-turn-other-cheek-matthew-539/

“Transcript of Walter Wink’s Nonviolence for the Violent.” Lutheran Peace Fellowship. https://www.lutheranpeace.org/articles/transcript-of-walter-winks-nonviolence-for-the-violent/

[4] Lex talionis. Dictionary.com

[5] Fr. Scott A. Haynes.  “’Turn the Other Cheek’: A Biblical Lesson in Dignity and Moral Resistance.” Mystical Theology. https://www.mysticaltheologyofthemass.com/post/turn-the-other-cheek-a-biblical-lesson-in-dignity-and-moral-resistance

[6] “What Jesus Meant By ‘Turn the Other Cheek’ in Matthew 5:39. BibleProject. https://bibleproject.com/articles/what-jesus-meant-turn-other-cheek-matthew-539/

“Transcript of Walter Wink’s Nonviolence for the Violent.” Lutheran Peace Fellowship. https://www.lutheranpeace.org/articles/transcript-of-walter-winks-nonviolence-for-the-violent/

Fr. Scott A. Haynes.  “’Turn the Other Cheek’: A Biblical Lesson in Dignity and Moral Resistance.” Mystical Theology. https://www.mysticaltheologyofthemass.com/post/turn-the-other-cheek-a-biblical-lesson-in-dignity-and-moral-resistance

[7] Fr. Scott A. Haynes.  “’Turn the Other Cheek’: A Biblical Lesson in Dignity and Moral Resistance.” Mystical Theology. https://www.mysticaltheologyofthemass.com/post/turn-the-other-cheek-a-biblical-lesson-in-dignity-and-moral-resistance

Images

Let it Go: Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash

Some Cultural Context: Photo by Micah Camper on Unsplash

Black Lives Matter Protest: Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Reuters

W
e hear the expression “Great minds think alike” when two people arrive at the same conclusion, or come up with the same idea, at the same time.

At its core, “great minds think alike,” celebrates intellectual synergy, the cooperative interaction of creative thinkers working toward the same answers or solutions. [1] Like Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace who, independent of one another, were both writing about natural selection during the mid-nineteenth century.[2]

We seldom hear the other half of this saying, however, the often-forgotten, “but fools seldom differ.” Which is a warning against groupthink and the dangers of blindly agreeing with others.

Intelligent thought is about more than simple agreement. It’s about reasoning and analysis. So, when you find yourself thinking the same way as someone else, stop to consider whether that’s a result of insight or a lack of critical evaluation.

When taken as a whole, Great minds think alike, but fools seldom differ, this aphorism highlights the importance of independent thought and the ability to entertain diverse ideas. Bearing in mind all the book banning and full-throttle attacks on diversity taking place these days, that’s something we could use a lot more of.

.

Check out more
aphorisms and idioms here.

#Aphorisms Unplugged 

.
Endnotes:

[1] Nguyen, Spring. “Great Minds Think Alike Full Quote: Oriign, Meaning, 55 Best Variations & When to Use It.” Snugfam.com  snugfam.com/great-minds-think-alike-full-quote-origin-meaning-55-best-variations-when-to-use-it/

[2] “What about Wallace?” Charles Darwin & Evolution. https://darwin200.christs.cam.ac.uk/what-about-wallace

Image:

Great Minds Think Alike: Photo by William Felipe Seccon on Unsplash

L
ike many mothers, my mom drilled the importance of being nice into my young psyche.  She used expressions like the direct and simple “be nice” to impart this lesson. As well as Thumper the rabbit’s ever-popular pearl of wisdom “if you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.”  Not to mention Jimmy Durante’s “be nice to people on the way up, because you meet them on the way down.”[1]

And, then there’s the adage “it’s nice to be important, but more important to be nice.” These days, this aphorism is more relevant than ever.

We’ve heard it attributed to the likes of actor Tony Curtis, philanthropist John Templeton, and champion tennis player Roger Federer among others.[2]

Pretty good advice, really. But interestingly (although not surprisingly if you’ve been following Aphorisms Unplugged), there was a time when being nice was something to be avoided. And, referring to someone as nice would be rude and insulting.

Not because being polite, kind and respectful was a bad idea, but because nice meant something completely different.

During the 14^th century, when the word nice was first used in English, it meant to be “silly, or foolish.” Which makes sense, since the term made its way to English by way of early French from the Latin nescius, meaning ignorant.

By the 16^th century, nice became associated with a sense of being finicky, or very particular. Around that time it was also used to describe someone with an extravagant, flashy, ostentatious dress code.

It wasn’t until the 19^th century that the word nice came to mean polite, kind, respectful – and respectable – as we understand it today.[3]

That’s quite the etymological journey. I’d wager Mom didn’t know about all the twists and turns the word had taken when she encouraged me to be nice. But regardless of how long it took for the term to mean polite, kind, and respectful, being nice to one another is something we should all strive to do.
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Check out more
aphorisms and idioms here.

Endnotes:

[1] “Nice quotes.” Brainy Quote.  https://www.brainyquote.com/topics/nice-quotes

[2] “It’s Nice to Be Important, but More Important To be Nice.” Quote Investigator. April 12, 2017. https://quoteinvestigator.com/2017/04/12/nice/

[3] “Nice.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nice.

“Nice.” Oxford English Dictionary. https://www.oed.com/dictionary/nice_adj?hide-all-quotations=true

Image:

Photo by ashok acharya on Unsplash

C
harity begins at home. We’ve all heard the expression. Usually in response to financial aid going to other nations. Or when we’re asked to donate to an organization that serves people outside our immediate circle.

“Charity begins at home” is effectively understood to mean charity ends at home. Once again, however, that is precisely the opposite of what this aphorism is actually meant to convey.

Sometimes that well-worn adage doesn’t really mean what our literal-minded, text-focused, Google-driven world thinks it means. One reason this happens is that, quite simply, language evolves.

To further complicate matters, as with books, all too often the context of these popular wisdoms has been forgotten. Though these aphorisms may still contain some good advice, their original message is typically richer and more profound than our contemporary interpretation.

This Book is Banned proffers a few proverbs, sayings, and other pearls of wisdom that have been “unplugged,” as it were. We’ve rebooted, gone back-to-basics, and re-discovered their intended message. For example:

Charity Begins at Home

Misunderstanding of the adage “charity begins at home” hinges on a shift in the interpretation of the word charity. These days, charity is understood as almsgiving, monetary donations to provide help for those in need – typically through organizations set up to do so.

But charity’s original meaning can be traced back to the 4th Century, when St. Jerome translated the Bible from Greek into Latin. [1] And, he translated the Greek agape (ἀγάπη) into the Latin charitas.

Charity is described as “a state and disposition of the heart.”[2] It is defined as the spirit of universal good-will that promotes a concern for the welfare of others, and as a result, calls good deeds into action. Monetary contributions are the manifestation of this altruistic state.[3]

The phrase “Charity begins at home” is often thought to have biblical origins, but it does not. The original understanding of charity is, however, considered a theological virtue. Sir Thomas Browne is credited with coining the phrase in his 1643 spiritual testament titled Religio Medici.[4]

Browne begins his observations on the virtue of charity by stating that, without it, “Faith is a meer notion.”[5] He continues by noting:

I have ever endeavoured to nourish the mercifull disposition, and humane inclination I borrowed from my Parents, and regulate it to the written and prescribed Lawes of Charity.[6]

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In short, he learned the virtuous disposition known as charity, and received instruction about how to put it into practical action from his parents. Hence, “charity begins at home.”

Browne also points out that an unwillingness to help those in need is nothing short of sinful. That sin being pride, you know, one of the seven deadlies. Because it’s only “nimbler & conceited heads, that never [look] a degree beyond their nests.”[7]

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Check out more
aphorisms and idioms here.

#aphorisms unplugged            #the art of reading

Endnotes:

[1] Taggart, Deborah R. “Charity.” Learning to Give.org    https://www.learningtogive.org/resources/charity

[2] Rev. T. H. Stokoe, M.A. The Use and Abuse of the Proverb, “Charity begins at home.” London: John Henry and James Parker, 1859. Pg 9.

[3] Rev. T. H. Stokoe, M.A. The Use and Abuse of the Proverb, “Charity begins at home.” London: John Henry and James Parker, 1859. Pg 8.

[4] Kastan, David Scott. “How This World Goes: On Shakespeare and Charity.” April 23, 2020. Beinecke Rare book & Manuscript Library.
https://beinecke.library.yale.edu/article/how-world-goes-david-scott-kastan-shakespeare-and-charity

[5] Sir Thomas Browne. Religio Medici. 1642.The Second Part. Section 1.
https://penelope.uchicago.edu/relmed/relmed.html

[6] Sir Thomas Browne. Religio Medici. 1642.The Second Part. Section 1.
https://penelope.uchicago.edu/relmed/relmed.html

[7] Sir Thomas Browne. Religio Medici. 1642.The Second Part. Section 8.
https://penelope.uchicago.edu/relmed/relmed.html

Image:

Charity Begins at Home:  Photo by Tim Marshall on Unsplash      Edited.