If you don't know the story
read on it's at the bottom.
I am sure at one time of your
life you have felt like this.
It's an awful feeling.
It's the awful tension, the threat of failure, the fear to get OUT.
Yes I am sure we have all been there at one time or another.
It's all just hanging over your head.
JUST imagine RETAIL!!!!!
This year, we have had so many businesses
shut down in Maine. Some big time business
Dionysius II of Syracuse,
a fourth century BC tyrant of Syracuse, Italy.
Pandering to his king, Damocles exclaimed that,
as a great man of power and authority
surrounded by magnificence,
Dionysius was truly extremely fortunate.
Dionysius then offered to switch places with Damocles,
so that Damocles could taste that very fortune first hand.
Damocles quickly and eagerly accepted the King's proposal.
Damocles sat down in the king's throne surrounded by every luxury,
but Dionysius arranged that a huge sword should hang above the throne,
held at the pommel only by a single hair of a horse's tail.
Damocles finally begged the tyrant that he be allowed to depart,
because he no longer wanted to be so fortunate.
Dionysius had successfully conveyed a sense of the constant fear
in which the great man lives. Cicero uses this story as the last in a
series of contrasting examples for reaching the conclusion he had
been moving towards in this fifth Disputation, in which the theme
is that virtue is sufficient for living a happy life. Cicero asks:
Does not Dionysius seem to have made it sufficiently clear
that there can be nothing happy for
the person over whom some fear always looms?
When life is this tense, move on make an easy life.
Posted by Yvonne @ La Petite Gallery
comments are welcome
7 comments:
Yes, I suppose smoking and drinking are like a sword over one's head. They give one immense pleasure, but also instill in him fear of the consequences.
It's interesting that Fear doesn't always help getting rid of addictions. Maybe the clue lies in finding a proper substitute, such as in the case of those addicted to coffee drinking; they can still be addicted to coffee but drink decaf coffee. Most of them won't even notice the difference.
Hello Yvonne
Congratulations on quitting smoking. I did also and it was the most difficult thing to do. I agree too that alcohol must be respected.
A great post and one that has made me ponder and I loved the story of Dionysius and Damocles and fear can make one immobile.
Have a wonderful weekend
Helen xx
Good for you! KUDOS! Congratulations! Pats on the back and an ATTAGIRL! Good for YOU!
Proud of you for quitting, Yvonne! That's a big victory. Hope you have a great weekend! xo
HERE HERE YVONNE!
And that is WHY I wrote the poem on my post about silence. Our world is whirling out of control. I have resigned from my teaching job because the system is out of control. SO....to get my life back, I quit. I am going to pursue art and writing. Risky business, I know. But I will be myself, and hopefully, maintain MYSELF.
I am so glad to have seen your comment this morning dear heart. Take courage; you can make a change every single day. Anita
YES! THE PRICES of everything is outrageous. How are we going to live in the future?
Thanks for coming back! Anita
well....
i have only one thing to say;
you know about horsehair fabric right?
it will last forever.
so....he was no idiot using a single horse hair from the tail of a horse.
i know.
you need a scissor to cut it.
it will stretch and stretch....
it's hard to break.
hahahahah
true story.
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