16 Comments
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Terry Quist's avatar

The contemporary expression of #2 is the "humble brag."

brianne fitzgerald's avatar

Too much of a downer in this Sunday morning. Is it me or do others detect some self loathing here?

Penny Adrian's avatar

Proponents of Evo Psych tend to have a very dim view of their fellow humans. But I do find evo psych fascinating. Even though it's based on correlation rather than causation, I think much of Evo Psych (and this article) resonates as true - despite the Evo Psych tendency to vastly oversimplify the human experience.

brianne fitzgerald's avatar

Every psych is very hard study

CoffeeFroth's avatar

Agreed…deep thoughts but they fail to see the merits of goodness as goodness

C. R. Wiley's avatar

La Rochefoucauld has been a favorite of mine since I was introduced to Maxims when I was at Harvard in the 90s.

Penny Adrian's avatar

Did you go to school in Boston? 😉

Penny Adrian's avatar

“However rare true love may be, true friendship is even rarer.”

As someone who has found true love, let me share something extremely important: True love cannot exist without a basis of true friendship. If you've found the former, you have found the latter.

It’s Just Me Dad's avatar

Bravo writer, great piece 🔥

#17 True love v. true friendship ☀️

SLGeorge's avatar

Do you care to comment on why you think this is true?

It’s Just Me Dad's avatar

It’s a bit of a loaded statement.

I’m not certain that I believe it (#17) to be true, but I enjoy contemplating it.

I believe I found true love (married 1st wife 28 yrs + 3 kids)

I would argue that I have true friendship with my brother.

Due to my focus on family, and not so much friendship outside of family, it has no doubt impacted my perceptions.

It has not come easily for me to maintain what I would consider to be true friendship in my life, despite having lots of great close friends and friendships along the way (primarily due to lack of time, focus and lifestyle).

Do you have any insights or thoughts on the notion?

SLGeorge's avatar

I don't have any insight. It was one of the quotes that I read that I found quite interesting, but wasn't sure what I thought about it. And then when I saw you comment on it, I was curious to see what insight you had on it.

I do think both are rare, I just don't have any insight on which one is rarer, but I'm quite curious about it.

I'm glad that you have a great marriage and friendship with your brother. I do think there is a connection with family that can be profoundly powerfully close. My best friend is my first cousin.

It’s Just Me Dad's avatar

Absolutely, the status of the family is vital. It’s one of the reasons I wholeheartedly support Rob’s work.

CP's avatar

I suspect that Theodore Dalrymple may be the most overlooked writer/essayist/observer there is. Glad to see him mentioned.

scott kohler's avatar

thx, enjoyed reading these. Many of them cause self reflection

LPM's avatar

Love the third installation of the La Rochefoucauld listicles!