In Becoming True to Oneself

Some rearrangements of furniture at my place prompted me to look for one of my favorite books my father lent me: Cannery Row. But I soon discovered I couldn’t find it, so I thought of where I placed it before I lost it, but I cannot remember. Just one of the many passage from that great novel struck me when I first read one of Steinbeck’s greatest works goes like this (now with the help of the internet of course) :

"It has always seemed strange to me...The things we admire in men, kindness and generosity, openness, honesty, understanding and feeling, are the concomitants of failure in our system. And those traits we detest, sharpness, greed, acquisitiveness, meanness, egotism and self-interest, are the traits of success. And while men admire the quality of the first they love the produce of the second."


Irony teaches men a lot of things in life. That, itself, is ironic.

There’s a lot of truth, therefore, when Edmund Burke said, “The only thing necessary for the triumph [of evil] is for good men to do nothing.” That of course is what happens daily in our lives—wherever we live in this planet. The Philippines is a good example for all those mentioned above, Steinbeck’s thoughts and Burke’s musings in life.

"The mark of the immature man is that he wants to die nobly for a cause, while the mark of the mature man is that he wants to live humbly for one." J.D Salinger

What a great feeling it must have been to be born with such people as contemporaries (not to mention Thoreau and HIS contemporaries), and not with such irreverent fools who disguise themselves as great men. You won’t have to go far if you want to meet them; they are readily available everyday on the papers and on the internet and cable. They’re all in the news.

And as though patience is not enough, try checking out the fakes at facebook or Friendster just to give you a sneak-peek of what the world has become. And those testimonials which either reminds one of brats or the worst kind: idiots. I do notice it though when all my patience suddenly run dry, then remember that the law of attraction cannot be achieved if I lose it (patience).

So maybe there should be sites—or social utility sites—that cater for those in need of that special attention. Something like Fraudster of thickfacebook.

Something.