memo

[Guest arabaliozian]

MEMO***********************************None of us is qualified to say: "I make the rules. I set the standards. I am in the law." We are neither judge nor jury, only witnesses. We can speak only of our own experiences, ideas, and feelings. The people are our jury and time (or history) our judge.When I was young, I too disagreed with many things. Even Renй Descartes, surely one of the greatest philosophers of all time, once conceded: "I am struck by the large number offalsehoods I had accepted as true in my childhood." To the young I say: Take it easy. Don't rush! There is no need to jump to conclusions. To the old I say: Understanding is not a dead end. Even the wisest among us lives with the hope that tomorrow he may know something that he does not knowtoday.MEN AND IDEAS*************************Initial rejection is better than general acceptance. The hemlock and the cross are to be preferred to fame and fortune.*Chazal: "A mirror has no heart but plenty of ideas." The same applies to those who recycle (or reflect) propaganda.*Emerson: "The best university that can be recommended to a man of ideas is the gauntlet of the mob."*To be open minded, to understand, and to be receptive to new ideas are quintessentially un-Armenian concepts.*It is impossible to agree or compromise with someone who contradicts your ideas with his emotions.  Ideas and emotions, very much like fire and water, don’t mix.*To the reader who accused me of exploiting theinternet to disseminate my ideas (meaning trash, ofcourse), I say:Gentle Reader:What you seem to resent is not my abuse of theinternet but free speech itself. You have every reasonto miss the good old days in the USSR (or is itAyatollah’s Iran?) when all it took to silence someonelike me was a phone call to the nearest commissar (ormullah). I am sorry if you find it difficult to adjustto your new environment. All is not lost however.Remember, you are free not to read me, which is what I would choose to do in your place. However, if you go on reading me, I say, Thank you for your hospitality.