Observations From Hadleyville: THE PARABLE OF NATHAN THE WISE

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

THE PARABLE OF NATHAN THE WISE

There was once a mighty king, Nathan the Wise one, who had a magic ring. Whoever possessed this ring would be rich, wise & powerful. King Nathan also had three sons. He knew that when he died, his sons would quarrel over possession of the ring. So, he had two duplicate, but non-magic rings forged. On his death bed, he gave a ring to each of his sons, and so died.

His sons spent the rest of their lives quarreling over who was the richest, wisest, and most powerful.

The moral of the story is: If you believe that you have the truth, act like it.

1 comment:

Austin said...: Amen; September 25, 2007 at 11:16 AM

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WORDS OF WISDOM FOR WRITERS

The secret of becoming a writer is that you have to write. You have to write a lot. You also have to finish what you write, even though no one wants it yet. If you don't learn to finish your work, no one will ever want to see it. The biggest mistake new writers make is carrying around copies of unfinished work to inflict on their friends.

I am sure it has been done with less, but you should be prepared to write and throw away a million words of finished material. By finished, I mean completed, done, ready to submit, and written as well as you know how at the time you wrote it.
-Jerry Pournelle

WHAT'S THIS HADLEYVILLE THING?

Those of you familiar with Mark Twain’s works might recognize my blog title. As Samuel Clemons grew older, he became increasingly disillusioned with humanity. Towards the end he began referring to the Damned Human Race; employing the secular and religious epithet at one stroke.

I find I’ve not reached that level of despair myself. I still believe in redemption and I still see signs of nobility even among we fallen, damned creatures. So, I could not bring myself to call this blog “On the Damned Human Race.” I do however, resonate with another of Clemmons stories; “The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg.” And viola, there you have it. “Observations From Hadleyville.”