Orwell On Asceticism
"The
essence of being human is that one does not seek perfection, that one
is sometimes willing to commit sins for the sake of loyalty, that one
does not push asceticism to the point where it makes friendly
intercourse impossible, and that one is prepared in the end to be
defeated and broken up by life, which is the inevitable price of
fastening one’s love upon other human individuals. No doubt alcohol,
tobacco and so forth are things that a saint must avoid, but sainthood
is also a thing that human beings must avoid."
-Reflections On Gandhi, George Orwell (1947)
"That's nice George, but I don't see what it has to do with the fact you're only getting a ten bag. Again."
ReplyDelete-Mabel Fierz
"Perhaps no other object symbolizes the week-to-week, penny-to-my name lifestyle of the western working man as much as the marijuana 'ten bag', served in those peculiar little plastic bags by ragged-trousered and friendly men who--in my experience--tended to live with their mothers and had goatee beards.
DeleteBoth the top hat wearing capitalist and the sniveling Stalinist intellectual are at pains to describe the ten bag as the lamentable idiocy of the proletariat. And well they might, sat upon their ill-gained ounce. But, for me, it is a testament to the British working class that they leap on every ten bag, finishing it off in a night and never thinking of tomorrow. It is a sort of hope, unspoken and difficult to grasp, that manifests in their joyful red eyes.
At this juncture, Mabel, I should explain I've only got £8.50. But I've got tobacco covered, like, REALLY covered, plus 5 or 6 king skins in my wallet. So if you can cover the other £2.50 I'll sort you out for a pint or something."
-George Orwell
Fine, but you're going to Trevor's to pick it up. He keeps staring down my top and regaling me with tales of beating people up who owe him money in an effort to get into my underwear.
ReplyDelete-Mabel Fierz
"To his credit, Trevor fought ceaselessly for the P.O.U.M in Spain, even as the backstabbers main their plans known in Barcelona. But I'll admit, his collection of replica ninja weapons are rather disconcerting."
Delete