The ‘Guard heart from stone’ principle -
Mr. Libel's views
I never thought I'd see the day when the libelist became the libelee. Granted, I may have had it coming for quite some time now, but listen, boy. You have a long travel ahead of you on the road of slander if you are ever to be deemed apt. You see, as things look now, kiddo, you can't touch me.
Nothing else needs to be said about the futile attempt that was made on my character in the previous post. Why the brouhaha, anyway?
Guard heart from stone. My recollection of the occasion of coining is a tad turbid. Whether this is due to some sort of consumption or due to the natural workings of the memory (or both) I cannot say. Nevertheless, the exact moment of origin is unimportant. What is important is the evolution of its meaning and beauty. Now the best way to describe it is perhaps not as an idiom, but rather as a meme, or as an in-joke between members of The Club.
My opinion about the beauty of Guard heart from stone is that it to a large extent can be derived from the conciseness of the phrase. In few past occasions have I come across phrases so aesthetically pleasing.
And as to the meaning: We have demonstrated that one can ascribe it multiple meanings, and this is just what the acolytes of The Club have done.
Let us start from the other end of the matter. What most obviously may strike some at first glance are the words heart and stone. Fair enough. Heart of stone, guard against that. Q.E.D. Finished now? Not by a long shot.
So what fancy interpretation do you have in mind, if you won't settle for that rather satisfactory one? you might ask. A warranted question that I will address shortly (and extensively.)
Guard heart from stone's beauty extends far beyond the mere words that it is made up of. And what worth is beauty when not shared? In my rather humble my opinion, beauty not shared is for all I care fit for the dump.
That's why I wish to share my interpretation of the idiom with you, Reader, dear and faithful.
After the aforementioned callous assault, I have finally the grandeur of setting petty straw men aside, so let us get to the point.
If I were to compress the entire interpretation into one word, it would turn out to be awareness. Now, if we take heart not only to mean the metaphorical heart (love style), but actually your entire cognitive self, lock, stock and barrel, Guard heart from stone takes on a wholly different meaning. For clarity, let us define stone as things unwanted. (Let us here disregard from that we may not always know what we want, or what's best for us.)
As creatures of habit, we are likely to follow certain behavioural schemes, or at least in general a general and consistent way of handling situations of a certain sort that we are faced with on a daily basis.
Given the realisation how we are likely to act under these circumstances, one is better to enter them, and act, with this knowledge in mind. (And in some instances even avoid some actions altogether.) That is: be aware of your inclinations in order to get an edge over yourself.
To quote the 16th Century English cardinal Thomas Wolsey:
Nothing else needs to be said about the futile attempt that was made on my character in the previous post. Why the brouhaha, anyway?
Guard heart from stone. My recollection of the occasion of coining is a tad turbid. Whether this is due to some sort of consumption or due to the natural workings of the memory (or both) I cannot say. Nevertheless, the exact moment of origin is unimportant. What is important is the evolution of its meaning and beauty. Now the best way to describe it is perhaps not as an idiom, but rather as a meme, or as an in-joke between members of The Club.
My opinion about the beauty of Guard heart from stone is that it to a large extent can be derived from the conciseness of the phrase. In few past occasions have I come across phrases so aesthetically pleasing.
And as to the meaning: We have demonstrated that one can ascribe it multiple meanings, and this is just what the acolytes of The Club have done.
Let us start from the other end of the matter. What most obviously may strike some at first glance are the words heart and stone. Fair enough. Heart of stone, guard against that. Q.E.D. Finished now? Not by a long shot.
So what fancy interpretation do you have in mind, if you won't settle for that rather satisfactory one? you might ask. A warranted question that I will address shortly (and extensively.)
Guard heart from stone's beauty extends far beyond the mere words that it is made up of. And what worth is beauty when not shared? In my rather humble my opinion, beauty not shared is for all I care fit for the dump.
That's why I wish to share my interpretation of the idiom with you, Reader, dear and faithful.
After the aforementioned callous assault, I have finally the grandeur of setting petty straw men aside, so let us get to the point.
If I were to compress the entire interpretation into one word, it would turn out to be awareness. Now, if we take heart not only to mean the metaphorical heart (love style), but actually your entire cognitive self, lock, stock and barrel, Guard heart from stone takes on a wholly different meaning. For clarity, let us define stone as things unwanted. (Let us here disregard from that we may not always know what we want, or what's best for us.)
As creatures of habit, we are likely to follow certain behavioural schemes, or at least in general a general and consistent way of handling situations of a certain sort that we are faced with on a daily basis.
Given the realisation how we are likely to act under these circumstances, one is better to enter them, and act, with this knowledge in mind. (And in some instances even avoid some actions altogether.) That is: be aware of your inclinations in order to get an edge over yourself.
To quote the 16th Century English cardinal Thomas Wolsey:
"Be very, very careful what you put into that head,I would modify that quote to:
because you will never, ever get it out."
"Be very careful what you put into your heart, because it's not always in your best interest to tear it out for things that could've been worked out in such a way so that it didn't have to come to this."I believe that will suffice.
posted by J.R. Libel at 15:34
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