May 06, 2008
A model for self-denial
built in mid 18th century Pennsylvania, the upper stories of the Ephrata Cloister were so rife with mold that my sinusitis has flared up again, but it was worth seeing how The White Brotherhood and The Sisters of the Wilderness subsisted under austere conditions that would blanch a modern hedonist.
A simple life may become necessary again as we slide into a post-consumerist society on a used-up planet, but I'd draw the line at their *stark celibacy* and the need to sleep on pillows made out of blocks of wood...
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A SECRET SOCIETY OF BACON!!! Why didn't anyone tell me about this? oh, right, it's a secret... damn
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Sounds speculative to me too, but Bacon did have his utopian dreams and did seem to favor childlessness. "He that hath Wife and children, hath given Hostages to Fortune; For they are Impediments, to great Enterprises, either of Vertue, or Mischiefe." On the other hand, he was almost profligate with commas and bankrupted himself through high living...
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Hmmmm, I'd never heard that quote in it's entirety. I always thought "hostages to fortune" meant that you cared for someone and were afraid of what life would bring to you through their suffering. Ah well, learn something every day. Now I can go to bed. (Oh yeah, interesting post, Sir Folkus)
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he was almost profligate with commas and bankrupted himself through high living I can totally relate.
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Percy: Well, couldn't you just dip nto the family fortune? Edmund: There isn't one. My father blew it all on wine, women and amateur dramatics. At the end, he was eking out of a living doing humourous impressions of Anne of Cleves.
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I thank BlueHorse for elevating me to the rank of equestriane.
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That slideshow is in process of migrating to this google hosted site...