Thursday, May 15, 2008
WHILE SCALING GREATER HEIGHTS
"Know how to triumph over the envious, and the malevolent. Not enough just to ignore them, even though courtesy is a great virtue; better to meet them with brave face, for there is not enough praise for him who speaks well of him who speak ill; no vengeance more noble, than that which through worth, and ability, becomes the tormentor and the executioner of the envious; every success tightens the rope about the neck of the malevolent; and the glory of the envied becomes the hell of the envious; this is the greatest of all punishements, to be made unhappy by another's happiness: the envious dies not once, but as often as the envied is reborn by applause, the enduring fame of the one vying with the enduring torture of the other; for the envied is as immoral in his glory, as the envious is in pain. The trumpet of fame, which sounds the one to life eternal, brings execution to the other, sentenced to be choked to death by the choke of his envy." - Baltasar Gracian
Crab Mentality - GMA7 - 100% Pinoy
A Lesson on Filipino Crab Mentality - Ang Kuwago
The Filipino Crab Mentality: The institutionalization of Mediocracy
I very much appreciate my articles and photos appearing on fellow bloggers' sites, popular broadsheets, and local broadcast news segments, but I would appreciate even more a request for permission first.
Thank you!
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Labels: Words of wisdom
posted by Señor Enrique at 7:04 AM
12 Comments:
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pusa said... meow senor! nice photo and quote
is this photo taken in front of the CCP? thought i saw these sticks there and was wondering what are those for :D-
Amadeo said...
Eric:
Much earlier, I also dealt with this subject and found things differently. For another different look then:
http://theignatianperspective.blogspot.com/2006/07/crab-mentality-another-look.html#links
http://theignatianperspective.blogspot.com/2005/05/crab-mentality-philippine-phenomenon.html#links-
Señor Enrique said...
Thanks Agnes!
I really love this art installation (in front of CCP). I took a series of photographs of which and may go back at another time for different natural light effect.
They remind me of a hundred "palosebos" at one point -- those bamboo poles mired with grease so as to make them slippery for a climber who is after the prize money on top.
I then thought the a picture of which would be ideal for a blog entry -- tool against crab mentality -- I had in mind :)-
Señor Enrique said...
Thank you very much for sharing with us those URLs, Amadeo. I had just read both of them; enlightening, I must admit.
This crab mentality, I believe, is an aberration not inherent to Filipinos. I know of many folks back in NYC from various ethnic groups in which this senseless attitude is made to run rampant to the point that it has become human nature in some cases.
Nonetheless, if we Pinoys could learn to be more supportive and cooperative -- as the Chinoys are -- we stand a good chance of making this country as great as it possibly could :)
As I get older, I find myself appreciating even more the wisdom in adage or commandment, "love thy neighbor."-
Unknown said...
I loveeeeee the photo! They also remind me of palusebos...the one thing that I didn't try when I was a kid!:D
Jealousy is a waste of time, and a form of self-torment...meaning, jealous people have low self-esteem. When you envy your neighbor, you're counting your neighbor's blessings and not your own, that should weigh you down. We should appreciate and enjoy what we have, take off our eyes from our neighbor, and strengthen our self-worth.-
Señor Enrique said...
What I remember, Luna, the palusebo poles in our neighborhood during the annual fiesta were often climbed successfully by outsiders. Those guys from the neighborhood could only go halfway the most then slide right down from exhaustion.
As for the neighbors' blessings, instead of being jealous, I tend to celebrate them. That is because such good fortune demonstrate how prosperous and abundant the universe is.
Also, I believe that with proper preparation, unbounded passion and joyful determination, our efforts will receive wondrous blessings from the universe :)
And as you said, no need to waste any of our valuable energy on life-sapping negative attitude.
Thanks, Luna!-
nutart said...
hey! I know who made this installation!...or, maybe...kasi i read it in a press release. He was my former colleague---Gerry---no full name muna.
And saya ng angulo sa installation!
All I can say is that envy can be both ways---either you strive to be better than your former or you "stab" nga the "enemy" not making any positive effect on anyone... Marami dito niyan but I have accepted it and as the passage said, be still and just Be. Don't feed into the energy.-
Señor Enrique said...
It's quite unfortunate that I didn't find anything about this installation and creator, Bernadette. That seems to be the local norm -- no sign about the work on display.
Anyway, interesting attitude against envy -- "be still and just be."-
said... hi senor!
nice angle! anyway, nakalink ka na sa blog ko.
www.fotog.motime.com
-chrislucas-
Señor Enrique said...
Thanks much, Chris!
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mgaputonimimi said...
bamboo po ang nasa pic?
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Señor Enrique said...
Yes, Mimi ... they are colorfully-painted bamboo poles created as art installation at the CCP complex on Roxas Boulevard.
