“His considered view seems to be that what is important in human life is not so much happiness as human flourishing”

I certainly felt the “happiest” in my life when I was studying at Oxford…and I noticed my students looked “happiest” when they’d had a good lesson.

In such a study the eyes of the spirit and the habit of concentration will replace the lost vision.

It reminded me of young Tom Skelton.  His loss of eyesight wasn’t a disadvantage with the Imps.  He knew the stage like the back of his hand, no props, no costumes, everyone was making up the “world” for that game as they went along.

Although he considers his blogging to be giving-it-away-free, I find that it’s essentially advertising.  If he wasn’t blogging or writing for sites without a paywall, I’d never have heard of him.  I have now bought one of his books and will watch his DVDs.

The same happened with Ken Loach.  In reverse, I no longer read Giles Smith who writes for The Times (UK – now behind a Murdoch paywall).   I do miss him and am actively looking for a replacement.

Stephen_J_Gould_-_The_median_isn_t_the_message

Out of every hundred people,
those who always know better:
fifty-two.

Unsure of every step:
almost all the rest.

Ready to help,
if it doesn’t take long:
forty-nine.

Always good,
because they cannot be otherwise:
four — well, maybe five.

Able to admire without envy:
eighteen.

Led to error
by youth (which passes):
sixty, plus or minus.

Those not to be messed with:
four-and-forty.

Living in constant fear
of someone or something:
seventy-seven.

Capable of happiness:
twenty-some-odd at most.

Harmless alone,
turning savage in crowds:
more than half, for sure.

Cruel
when forced by circumstances:
it’s better not to know,
not even approximately.

Wise in hindsight:
not many more
than wise in foresight.

Getting nothing out of life except things:
thirty
(though I would like to be wrong).

Balled up in pain
and without a flashlight in the dark:
eighty-three, sooner or later.

Those who are just:
quite a few,
thirty-five.

But if it takes effort to understand:
three.

Worthy of empathy:
ninety-nine.

Mortal:
one hundred out of one hundred –
a figure that has never varied yet.

(translated from the Polish by Joanna Trzeciak)