Change
“Look in the mirror. Day after day, year after year, there’s hardly any change at all. That’s you: wrinkles, gray hair, what the hell – you can see it’s you. And yet, every bone, every muscle, every patch of skin, tendon, blood vessel – every single particle – is being destroyed and replaced right as you look. Surface calm – mad scramble of activity underneath. The shape, the form, the pattern – all unchanged and yet not one single molecule of what was you seven years ago is a part of you now.” – Theory of War, Joan Brady
Ryan Holiday is the bestselling author of Trust Me, I’m Lying, The Obstacle Is The Way, Ego Is The Enemy, and other books about marketing, culture, and the human condition. His work has been translated into thirty languages and has appeared everywhere from the Columbia Journalism Review to Fast Company. His company, Brass Check, has advised companies such as Google, TASER, and Complex, as well as Grammy Award winning musicians and some of the biggest authors in the world. He lives in Austin, Texas.
Is it not kind of sad how much Jonathan tried to change yet could not, throughout his life. The injustices that he suffered as child dominated his life and even poisoned his wifes and their children’s lives(most who committed suicide). I know you said it was awesome book and I liked it too, but at the same time it’s pretty sad as well. Not to say a sad book can’t be awesome.
Dude, of course. It was horrible. That doesn’t preclude it from being considered an extremely well written and poignant piece of literature.
One of my favorite lines in Meditations is where Marcus tells himself to look at anyone who ever raged at something, or dedicated every second of their life to some injustice or carried a grudge for years. What are they now? Dead just like everybody else. The only difference is that they were miserable and angry the whole tine. Does that sound worth it?
Oh no I’m sorry if that’s what came across but I can see how what I wrote seems to say it was a bad book because it was sad. I did not mean to imply that it was lesser work because it was horrific. That’s why I said “Not to say a sad book can’t be awesome.”
I think what you said when you quoted Marcus ties into the piece which you wrote a couple of weeks ago about Anger and directly ties into Theory of War. Jonathan’s hatred for George destroyed everything he touched. That hatred and the damage it did to generations totally out weighs the revenge he took upon George. Marcus throughout the meditations points out how small we are as individuals in the universe and I thought Theory of War was a great example of someone who thought their pain was more important then anyone elses. Similar to that guy in your blog post about anger who had that temper tantrum about the fax.
I don’t know maybe I’m grasping at straws and not making much sense but I enjoyed the quote.
“all unchanged and yet not one single molecule of what was you seven years ago is a part of you now”
False unfortunately. I hate it when writers do this, say something false to get a better effect, this kind of puffery and lying is why religious events’ written accounts are so ridiculous.
Well, except for brain cells that is.
Appreciate the quote Ryan, I’ll be looking forward to getting my hands on that book.
Anonymous:
“this kind of puffery and lying is why religious events’ written accounts are so ridiculous.”
Maybe the relationship between word and truth isn’t as clear cut as you seem to believe.
The narrative fallacy.
Go tell Viktor Frankl about the narrative fallacy.
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Fab post guy, is it that you is a guru. I imagine you might be. Respect, Kathy