Quote of the day.

I’ve been thinking a lot about Chesterton recently, and this quote in particular:

“The dog could almost have told you the story, if he could talk,” said the priest. “All I complain of is that because he couldn’t talk, you made up his story for him, and made him talk with the tongues of men and angels. It’s part of something I’ve noticed more and more in the modern world, appearing in all sorts of newspaper rumors and conversational catch-words; something that’s arbitrary without being authoritative. People readily swallow the untested claims of this, that, or the other. It’s drowning all your old rationalism and scepticism, it’s coming in like a sea; and the name of it is superstition.” He stood up abruptly, his face heavy with a sort of frown, and went on talking almost as if he were alone. “It’s the first effect of not believing in God that you lose your common sense, and can’t see things as they are. Anything that anybody talks about, and says there’s a good deal in it, extends itself indefinitely like a vista in a nightmare. And a dog is an omen and a cat is a mystery and a pig is a mascot and a beetle is a scarab, calling up all the menagerie of polytheism from Egypt and old India; Dog Anubis and great green-eyed Pasht and all the holy howling Bulls of Bashan; reeling back to the bestial gods of the beginning, escaping into elephants and snakes and crocodiles; and all because you are frightened of four words: `He was made Man.'”

–“The Oracle of the Dog”

One Response to “Quote of the day.”

  1. pigpen51 says:

    Watching this video of Stevie Wonder, I was struck by a couple of things. First, I really miss my youth, as many of the musical artists from then are aging and passing too quickly. And second, the way that they recorded back in the seventies is one heck of a lot different than the way that they do it today. I know, the control that the studios have is different now than it was then, with literally millions of dollars riding on a song, for the top artists like a Katie Perry or Taylor Swift. They are not my personal favorites, but they are the big money makers in the industry, and so every single note and every aspect of the production of them is controlled from the way each hair lays on their face during a music video, to that bastard child, the auto tune. When I was younger, I played sax in a rock group, and got a taste of the way things were done back then. We said, no matter what happens with music, it would always come back to those who could play an instrument and sing. Little did I know how wrong we were. The talent is but a tiny portion of the music business now. And the guys in bands playing gigs on the weekends are still making about 50$ a night in the bars, just like it was back in the early 90’s. At least they are keeping it real.