Sébastien Roch Nicolas, commonly known as Chamfort
1741-1794 from his Thoughts and Maxims
"When you get to the bottom of things, the resulting removal of illusions brings death to the soul, that is to say a complete lack of interest in everything that affects and occupies others."
Every culture is composed of values, ideals, interpretations - which are now force-fed upon children, so that they grow up to maintain the culture. I - and perhapsd Chamfort - would call this corpus of belief and acceptance 'illusion'.
Self-interest is also illusion : how many selves does one person have ?
Illusion is language. We are imprisoned in its multiple labyrinths and there is no way out, because one cannot unlearn language.
What is your interpretation of "removal of illusions" as related to self-interest ?
ReplyDeleteAren't we running on self-interest with or without the illusions ?
And if you show interest in others but it is not reciprocated,
Isn't it a waste ?
Chamfort also wrote:
ReplyDelete« Ce que j'ai appris, je l'ai oublié ; ce que je sais, je l'ai inventé »
EVERYTHING I HAVE LEARNED I HAVE FORGOTTEN. EVERYTHING I KNOW I HAVE MADE UP.
Does that answer your question ?
(We run only partially on self-interest. Self-interest is one of the more beguiling illusions.
Unreciprocated interest in others is known as altruism, and is the common lot of dogs.)
Another quotation doesn't do it :(
ReplyDeleteMy interest is in : what You think....
Maybe next time.....
Every culture is composed of values, ideals, interpretations - which are now force-fed upon children, so that they grow up to maintain the culture. I - and perhapsd Chamfort - would call this corpus of belief and acceptance 'illusion'.
ReplyDeleteSelf-interest is also illusion : how many selves does one person have ?
Illusion is language. We are imprisoned in its multiple labyrinths and there is no way out, because one cannot unlearn language.