Eugen Rosenstock-Huessy Quotes #14

“Man’s dignity lies not in producing private opinions but in timing public truth. His speech must not only be more than himself: it must come at the right moment, in the fullness of time. Then his words acquire a ‘once for ever’ meaning. All the sayings of Jesus were quite simple; they became important forever because they were spoken at the right moment, ‘when the time was fulfilled.’ A truth taught without the time element is abstract, therefore not vital. Truth is concrete at the lucky opportunity and hour. When we speak too late or too early we are out of luck; our truth remains abstract, and we fail to create a present in which people transcend mere past and future; we lack presence of mind.”

~from I Am an Impure Thinker: Teaching Too Late, Learning Too Early, page 95

I Am an Impure Thinker is available for free pdf download. Click here for that.

On Free Will

In the past I’ve always asked myself: “Do we have free will or not?”

It’s an either/or question which assumes that will is the only power in one’s life.

But later I thought: “Will is a power in one’s life, but it’s not the only power. There are other powers in one’s life which are stronger than will.”

But as I meditate on it more I realize that will is not a power at all. Terms like free will and will power don’t make any sense. Will is not a power, but rather a tool to be manipulated by the real powers in one’s life. Will is a steering wheel. The real powers turn the steering wheel. The real powers in one’s life are all the desires which push and pull us in different directions.

Our desires are built into us. If your desires are good, you will do good things. If they are evil, you will do evil. Either way, you will always do what you want to do.

A Warning to the West

Here is a video recently posted by Dr. Jordan B. Peterson entitled A New Years Letter to the World. It is quite interesting and I encourage you to watch it (just over 20 minutes).

Peterson states that the real problem of conflict in our world is not religion, but rather tribalism. And the problem with tribalism is that people will cooperate with each other but only in small groups which are in conflict with other small groups. This causes division and is unavoidable when people group together to defend a value system. The solution is not to devalue everything, which causes nihilism, nor is the solution a totalitarian state, which forces all people under one value system. The solution is individualism — but not a selfish individualism; instead, one of personal responsibility and caring action.

Lords of Time

If we want lasting succes in our endeavors, we need to learn to work with those who will be alive 100 years from now, and, if possible, work with those who have been gone 100 years.

We’ve done a good job conquering space (planes, trains, automobiles, Skype), but now we have to learn to conquer time.

Human History According to Franz Rosenzweig

“What happens in history, [Rosenzweig] says, is not a struggle between man’s faith and man’s reason but a struggle between God and man. In world history the absolute powers themselves are dramatis personae [the characters of the play]. Revelation breaks into the world and transforms creation, which is the Alpha of history, into redemption, which is the Omega. Philosophy has a pagan quality. It is an expression of the Alpha, of creation, of pure nature to which God has given freedom — even against himself. But as revelation comes into the world, it gradually absorbs philosophy, deprives it of its pagan elements, and illuminates it with its own light. The Omega of history will be realized after the element of creation, the world’s freedom, has spent itself. Then God, who has allowed the world to be in the Alpha, will again be the First and the Last, the Alpha and the Omega.”

~Alexander Altmann, from Franz Rosenzweig and Eugen Rosenstock-Huessy: An Introduction to Their “Letters on Judaism & Christianity”, from Judaism Despite Christianity, University of Chicago Press, 1935, page 33.