"I was preparing to deliver a speech in praise of ___ . I was to tell many lies that would be enjoyed by people who would know full well that they were not the truth. My heart pounded with anxiety..."Is it quote from a interview conducted on this morning's news? Was he about to speak at a fundraising dinner for a candidate for running for office in the upcoming election? Actually, it is a bit older than that. The speaker was about to make a speech about the Emperor of Rome, in the fourth century.
All of our technology notwithstanding, not much has changed.
Augustine continued his story.
I noticed a destitute beggar who, I think, was already drunk, because he was joking and laughing...All our efforts...were directed at nothing more than the attainment of a state of carefree pleasure. But the beggar got there first... For what he had gained with a few coins got by begging - namely, the pleasure of temporary happiness - I was striving to find in such distressingly twisted and roundabout ways.
Not that the beggar possessed true joy; but my method of seeking fulfillment through corrupt practices was far more false. Certainly he was cheerful while I was anxious; he was carefree while I was filled with apprehension. If anyone were to ask me whether I would prefer to be cheerful or afraid, I would answer, 'to be cheerful'. But if I were then asked whether I would prefer to be like the beggar or like myself, as I was at the time, I would choose to be myself, though consumed by anxieties and fears. (The Confessions of St. Augustine,"A Beggar's Happiness")The more things change, the more they stay the same. Beggars and politicians alike, we are still striving after the wrong thing, and looking for it in all the wrong places.
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