“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” ~ Leonardo da Vinci (Adopted by Steve Jobs)
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A Man was caught for theft and was condemned.
He asked to see his Mother. When she came to see him, he asked if he might whisper something to her.
Being allowed to do so, he drew near, but, when she brought her ear near him, he put her lobe between his teeth and nearly bit it off.
Seeing this in horror, the bystanders asked him why he did such a thing!
“To punish her!” he said. “When I was young, I began with stealing little things, and I brought them home without rebuke. She laughed at my childish ways, knowing better, and did me a horrible injustice by failing to correct me into the right path.”
Moral of the Story: Sometimes love makes us strong, sometimes love makes us weak. Sometimes tough love is the best love. Discipline, or lack thereof, feeds upon itself.
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Introduction – The Essential Aesop – Epilogue
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Why We Loved It: Aesop switches gears in tone, teaching us something about the underlying fabric of his fables: Discipline. Courage is often touted as a virtue, Discipline not so much. But, Discipline, in so many ways, is the forgotten mother of all virtue.
Courage is to go, Discipline is to stop. Fortitude plays it both ways, seeing that it takes strength to go, and strength to stop. It is a train wreck of a human being who can only do one. It is as much a law of inertia science as it is a law of humanity.
Socrates might say that it is Discipline that is the fabric of courtesy, respect, and most importantly, Justice. It is Discipline that constrains vigilante inclinations to follow the law. It is Discipline that brings fear to fight. It is Discipline that separates courage from foolishness, and stubbornness.
Love may be natural, but tough love requires Discipline to constrain the action—that is, to constrain love’s natural inclination—which is why it is tough. Where Love exists and is consistent with Duty, Duty gets a free ride. Where Love exists and is inconsistent with Duty, Duty requires Discipline.
The Mother may have been wise enough to know right from wrong, but she was undisciplined, and she failed to correct her son when duty required it. Every loving parent knows that it is not easy to inflict a punishment. It takes fortitude to contradict the inclination of love, by a parental duty.
Once again, we see that nothing is free in the natural world of Aesop. The Mother’s pain came to her, in another form, on another day. She should have taken the pain of duty, early, implementing tough love. This fable is all about the Mother’s failure. She knew better, but she did not do better.
Aesop reminds us: Love is not always simply about soft coddling care. Indeed, sometimes love makes us strong, but sometimes love makes us weak. Wisdom makes the decision, but Fortitude must implement that decision.
“Train up a child in the way he should go; and he is old, he will not depart therefrom.” Proverbs, 22:6
“Spare the rod, spoil the child.” Samuel Butler, Hudibras
“A stitch in time may save nine.” Thomas Fuller, Gnomologia, Adagies and Proverbs, Wise Sentences and Witty Sayings, Ancient and Modern, Foreign and British
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© 2013 Arnold Zegarelli and Gregg Zegarelli, Esq. Gregg can be contacted through LinkedIn. Arnold Zegarelli can be contacted through Facebook.
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