Don't let the bastards grind you down

created by DaVinciLe0

(idea) by witnie (4.5 y) (print) ? (I like it!) 2 C!s Wed Nov 22 2000 at 10:02:13

I think it's a bit sad that this node is still empty; even after yesterday's write-up The world breaks everyone from Jet-Poop which was linked to this one, nobody added something, not even a dull sentence.
Does this mean that you guys are being ground down by the bastards?
I can't imagine you don't know what to write here, faster and wittier that I can. And I can't even give you the perfect recipe with which you can shield yourself from those braindeads who lost their ideology over time: there is no such list as a ten-rules-to... I can only tell you what works for me.

Happiness is the best revenge!

That's it. If you know what you are doing, and why, and do those activities because you're convinced it's for a good cause and not out of a deep rooted frustration, how can they grind you? They can't!!! With their narrow-mindedness they are no match for your arguments why you're doing what you're doing. Especially when you're satisfied, happy, with the way you choose to live.

I don't have this house-car-marriage-kids-dog sort of life, I chose something else. Of course there are people around me who try to put me in a cage, to do what they do, to do what everybody else does, to do what I'm supposed to do to fit in. And then I tell them my reasons. Often they don't have a contra-argument, they're surprised yes, that there are still people out there who even think and care about the problems in the world. They say something like: "well, that's great what you do, but I can't do that because blahblah. And I'm happy for you that you're happy with your life". At the end of the day, they accept/tolerate me and don't keep on pressing me into the same line everybody else goes, because they know I enjoy my life. And it is a waste of time and energy to convince a satisfied/happy person to change her/his life.
If they don't accept (or tolerate) it, I avoid them as much as possible, because it's not worthwhile the energy of talking to a wall the "bastards" don't want to be broken. If they want to live in their fake life, let them, and so let me live my life. And I know I'm not the only one on earth who refuses to be grinded, I met others.

The above could be interpreted as arrogant, but I didn't mean that, I think I meant self confidence.

(idea) by agoodmixture (2.3 mon) (print) ? (I like it!) Mon Nov 19 2001 at 18:15:56

What if most things in life don't turn out the way you want?

It doesn't mean that your dreams are any less valuable.

What if the world tends to be full of disgust, ache, and corruption?

It doesn't mean that you should become cynical, but rather, more alert and vigilant.

What if most people do turn out to be unimaginative, insensitive bastards?

Then how much more amazing are the people that didn't? Grapple these people to you, as the poet says, with hoops of steel.

What if we live in a world filled with pain, despair and more disappointment than often seems bearable?

Then how much more urgent is each action that we do?

"We die and are put into the earth forever. We must insist while there is still time." -Jack Gilbert

What if we do live in a bleak, dying, finite world doomed to end someday, and, indeed, the sum of all human action is simply vanity and waste?

Then how important, really, are all of the minor things that you worry about day to day?

What if there simply isn't a God above making sure that things work out? What if justice, peace, and love are all human fictions? What if there is no real order to things?

Then how much more thunderously staggering is the random beauty that does exist in the world, the sunsets, the moments of grace; the stuff that is still there in spite of direct hostility, pain, and apathetic chance?

Don't let the bastards grind you down.

printable version
chaos

The world breaks everyone	Nil Carborundum Illegitimis	Nolite te bastardes carbondonum	Go take a flying fuck at a rolling donut
20 ways to annoy a raver	Rape is not as bad as murder	I don't care. I like who I am because of it.	Participate in your own manipulation.
Ripping off soda machines	Useful Latin phrases	men of unfriendly disposition	Things girls think guys should know
Keep the faith	Changing your sexuality	acrobat	E2 is unfriendly to new noders
Revenge is a dish best served cold	The Handmaid's Tale	It all turned out all right but there was so much pain along the way	Everything2 Civil War
July 11, 2004	He touched her once and she turned into a golden creature. He never touched her again.	How to spot a tourist in New York	August 19, 2005

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