Wednesday, May 23, 2012

The Aeneid, chapter 9

     " Euryalus countered: 'You're spinning empty arguments, they won't work. No, my mind won't change, won't budge an inch. Let's be gone!'"
                               From The Aeneid by Virgil
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     Empty arguments. Everyone hates them, yet they are so common. This passage, although one of the shortest in the book, is one that stands out to me more than others. It's interesting - an empty argument is one that is usually chock-full of words, feelings, and emotion. Yet they can be so meaningless to some. They most often don't work to accomplish much, yet we throw ourselves into them. I am the second-oldest of five children, and I can definitely relate to this.I know that, for me, when I've set my mind on something that I believe with my whole heart is right, true, or 'fair', no amount of yelling, pleading, or whining will change my mind. {Unless it's my parents, that is}. This is often called bullheadedness, but it's helped me - when I find out on my own that I was wrong - to put myself in others' shoes and remember that sometimes we need to just let people think what they think. Who cares if my seven-year-old  brother thinks the sky is purple!? He'll figure out the truth someday, but does it really matter now? Who am I to try and change what he has set his heart on?

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