#moral thoughts

[jungianartist]

Adam Phillips: 'Against Self-Criticism' (with Q&A)

[aromaofgardenia]

[parentplaypen]

What Can Children Learn From Crime Classics Like Peter Rabbit?

What Can Children Learn From Crime Classics Like Peter Rabbit?

The tale of Peter Rabbit is one of many childhood books that seeks out themes such as exploring crime and the great moral debates you can have after reading them! (more…)

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[oldest-friend]

Do not waste time on empty activities. Only the mad are happy. I refuse to marry. Abandon an opinion if it is refuted. All crimes and sins are not equally serious. Only the ignorant believe they know everything. You are happy if you imagine yourself happy. Some people sin and beg by turns. Time and place determine what is moral. Virtue and vice change with the times. Abolish rhyme in the art of poetry. The poet lives in honour and poverty. Reforms slip easily out of control. Weigh with care the consequences of a reform. Doctors should answer questions rather than lecture. Agreement deadens, conflict stimulates. Bad taste has great benefits. We have a great desire for what is forbidden.

Titles of epigrams from Ludvig Holberg's Moral Thoughts, in The Visit of the Royal Physician by Per Olov Enquist.

The alleged story behind this extract is an interesting one, but probably no more than a story. Queen Caroline Mathilde of Denmark asked Johann Struensee, the physician to the "mad king" King Christian VII, to read to her a book of his own choosing. This is a somewhat unorthodox choice of literature for a man of the Enlightenment, perhaps, but he chose to read the titles of Holberg's epigrams rather than taking the book seriously. Struensee and Caroline became lovers and remained so until Struensee's execution and Caroline's exile from Denmark in 1772.