proverbs

"By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest." -Confucius I never was any good at taking someone's word for it; I've always been the type of person who wants to learn it for myself, and often that means living it and finding out on my own. This weekend, I'm still reeling from the loss of Magnolia Electric Company's Jason Molina, who died of alcohol abuse earlier this week. I'll remember him best for his heartbreaking vocals and lyrics, particularly at the concert I saw him…

This is one of my favourite proverbs. I quite often find myself turning it over in my own mind as some particularly dense person fails yet again to see the bleedin' obvious. And yet I discover that it doesn't appear to be a "standard" proverb, at least as revealed by 5 mins of not-very-exhaustive google searching. If you know better, tell me. The meaning, of course, is that once a certain minimal level of literal or metaphorical illumination has been shed on a subject, increasing the level of illumination or quantity of explanation will not allow the foolish to understand any more. Very…