December 1953 School Magazine

December. 1953

Brisbane Girls' Grammar School Magazine

Brisbane Girls' Grammar School Magazine

December. 1953

ON PITHY SAYINGS From the moment the first caveman realised he knew a little more than his fellows and set himself up as a sage, Man (and this term naturally and particularly includes women) has desired to have the last word on any subject. Thus he has invented the epigram, into which he attempts to pack all the information on the set topic and with one irrefutable statement to stop all healthy argument. 'rhen, having killed the conversa- tion he, if be is English, proceeds to discuss the weather; and this at great length. Added to this, the saying is often quite incorrect. If the epigrammarian is not of an original mind, he quotes from th e poets or the Bible. Who has not heard- " lJIIoney ·is the root of all evil''? This saying, having been taken out of its context, IS a vile distortion of what St. John originally intended- ' ' The love of money is the root of all e·vil. ' ' Whereas the first lays blame for human crime on. an inani- mate commodity, the second makes quite clear that the avarice, greed and selfishness arising from love of money are to be laid at our own door. To stimulate ambition, our teachers moan- "Oh, that a rnan's reach shonld exceed h1:s g1·asp!" Well, Napoleon, Adolf Hitler, Mussolini all reached out a ccordingly, obeying the words of the poet. Perhaps if some- one had quoted the next line- " Or what's a Heaven f01·,'' they would have realised that one ought not to expect complete fulfillment in this world and in one person's lifetime. Then we would know them to-day as reformers ,vho did much for their country and not as aggressors and those vile criminals, the vainglorious war-mongers . Again, Man exaggerates to make his point. Shaw, who certainly did nQt lack originality in his thoughts, said at the beginning of this century- " Th e imagination cannot conceive a viler criminal than he who shonlcl bui.lcl another Lonclon like the present one, nor a. greater benefactor than he who should destroy it." Forty years later , wh en Adolf Hitler , no doubt having read Shaw, attempted to benefit England and destroy London by bombing, there was not one person in all England who would have agreed with Shaw; indeed, they had not time to think about it; they wer e engrossed in building a new and equally beautiful city from the ashes of the first . Wer e they criminals 35

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