Damn! Now I'm going to have to go though endless books to find it, I know I have a copy of Dune but I also know I put it to one side a long time ago to read at some point. After reading your post it sounds I'd enjoy it.
A lot like practicing the Fear knocked on the door, I opened the door and nothing was there.
There is nothing worse than living in fear or seeing someone else live in it. I tend to follow the teachings of Miyamoto Musashi with some Stoic indifference thrown in. Unfortunately people tend to think the latter means you don't care when in fact it means you tend to care too much and unless you learn Stoic indifference it can be as crippling as fear, so you learn to feel the hurt on behalf of others or yourself deeply and quickly to put it to one side in your mind.
Miyamoto Musashi though teaches you to guard against many things including fear and so long as you keep your mind on an equal keel, will never have to live through it again.
" The Book of Five Rings" includes some of his writings but not a novel like Dune.
A great post with all that's going on right now. Thank you.
I'll take a look at the link in the morning, thanks.
Yes, it's on my list to dig out Dune tomorrow as I loved the quotes in your post. I take what I can from where I can if that makes sense but Musashi's words helped me pull through a really bad time many years of moons ago, regain balance and keep there.
I am no great student of these things, nor a philosophy graduate. But I suppose the reason for its frequent thematic occurrence and narrative power in much of our "heroic" literary heritage from ancient Greece onwards, is that fear itself is probably the most elemental of our base instincts; hard-wired into the amygdala, the most primitive and survival-driven part of our thinking and feeling equipment. So perhaps when we are with a Shakespearean king urging his men to go into battle by telling them that they will be remembered down the ages and celebrated with envy, or there with Frodo carrying on to Mount Doom in spite of his knowing that he will probably perish....we instinctively know that those characters have in fact already fought and won the greatest battle that any of us will ever face. And we aspire to do the same when that inevitable hour arrives. Inspiring piece. Thank you Sir.
Well Said, Spaceman.
"No political correctness in the 1960s. In those times winners won while others lost for a variety of reasons."
Then we were able to call a thing, "a thing."
Did you just misthing me, you bigot? 🧐
Totally agree.
Damn! Now I'm going to have to go though endless books to find it, I know I have a copy of Dune but I also know I put it to one side a long time ago to read at some point. After reading your post it sounds I'd enjoy it.
A lot like practicing the Fear knocked on the door, I opened the door and nothing was there.
There is nothing worse than living in fear or seeing someone else live in it. I tend to follow the teachings of Miyamoto Musashi with some Stoic indifference thrown in. Unfortunately people tend to think the latter means you don't care when in fact it means you tend to care too much and unless you learn Stoic indifference it can be as crippling as fear, so you learn to feel the hurt on behalf of others or yourself deeply and quickly to put it to one side in your mind.
Miyamoto Musashi though teaches you to guard against many things including fear and so long as you keep your mind on an equal keel, will never have to live through it again.
" The Book of Five Rings" includes some of his writings but not a novel like Dune.
A great post with all that's going on right now. Thank you.
Herbert's take is a good one. Fear kills the rational mind. That has always resonated with me.
If you like Musashi you may enjoy this piece:
https://abysspostcard.substack.com/p/some-observations-by-the-16th-century
I'll take a look at the link in the morning, thanks.
Yes, it's on my list to dig out Dune tomorrow as I loved the quotes in your post. I take what I can from where I can if that makes sense but Musashi's words helped me pull through a really bad time many years of moons ago, regain balance and keep there.
The litany against fear is very memorable. There are a few in Dune though. I've written about several here on Substack.
I'm now waving The Great Dune Trilogy in my hand after getting sidetracked by some I've already read.
It will give me a mind break from constant factual reading. 😊
Tempt me not with your back posts, or at least, not until another day.
I am no great student of these things, nor a philosophy graduate. But I suppose the reason for its frequent thematic occurrence and narrative power in much of our "heroic" literary heritage from ancient Greece onwards, is that fear itself is probably the most elemental of our base instincts; hard-wired into the amygdala, the most primitive and survival-driven part of our thinking and feeling equipment. So perhaps when we are with a Shakespearean king urging his men to go into battle by telling them that they will be remembered down the ages and celebrated with envy, or there with Frodo carrying on to Mount Doom in spite of his knowing that he will probably perish....we instinctively know that those characters have in fact already fought and won the greatest battle that any of us will ever face. And we aspire to do the same when that inevitable hour arrives. Inspiring piece. Thank you Sir.
I think that is very true. For some fear is not a mind killer.
Bait is the flip-side of fear.
Outrage porn, fear porn…it’s all just bait.
I don't think it is the flipside. I think it can exploit fear responses. A lot of propaganda uses fear, for instance.