Lexicon of style

[shredder]

Who was it that said that two parallel lines will eventually meet? It must have been someone of negotiable virtue!

[shredder]

Another point of interest here is the distinction between “having style” and “having one’s own style”. I suspect many people are more interested in the latter and will go to great lengths to dress like a clown only to prove they have a style of their own. In having style, on the other hand, one does not try to look different. One may even go largely unnoticed, as Brummell himself had remarked regarding the truly well dressed gentleman.

Interesting point. As you say, I believe that the latter is a misinterpretation of the former.

[shredder]

Heinrich Neuhaus about making music: “Do not find yourself in the music, but find the music in yourself”.

It's Dame Shirley Bassey today. Where do I begin...

[Costi]

Today? Shredder, Diamonds are forever...

[shredder]

Yes, today. Tomorrow it might be Sid Vicious' rendering of My Way. Diamonds are Forever is a terrible song: Men are mere mortals who are not worth going to your grave for...

[Costi]

Diamonds are Forever is a terrible song

Tell that to the Dame! I didn't mean the song, but the idea.
It's not SB or anyone else. It is Music, no matter when and where. The human body can play notes, but cannot make music; the spirit can. Once one finds the music inside, all exterior manifestations will sing together.

[storeynicholas]

There are probably also fine distinctions between the qualities of gallantry; chivalry and valour. For example, the Victoria Cross is awarded only for action in the face of the enemy and bears, on the front, just the words; 'For Valour', whereas the next-ranking medal, the George Cross is awarded for action in difficult or dangerous circumstances but without an active human opponent and bears the words 'For Gallantry'. Of course, 'gallantry' might also denote simply the possession of a form of courtliness, which might be devoid of any higher quality; maybe elegant and, maybe, without style. 'Chivalry' derives mainly from a strict code of behaviour and does not really leave room for personal choice. Valour and gallantry are supreme qualities; greater even than simple charity, because they denote a preparedness to risk sacrificing the self. You cannot, to my mind, better those qualities, however the possessor of them is dressed.

[storeynicholas]

Yes, today. Tomorrow it might be Sid Vicious' rendering of My Way. Diamonds are Forever is a terrible song: Men are mere mortals who are not worth going to your grave for...

Probably, humour and a sense of irony have a clear place too!
NJS

[storeynicholas]

Nicholas - yes, strength of character we might call it. There is a tradition - at least in the Eastern Church - according to which a child in danger of dying unbaptized in a remote place may be baptized with dust instead of water, by any Christian soul (not just a priest) using his own words and nothing but a piece of string instead of a stole. God can be found anywhere and faith needs no rich adornments. Similarly, style needs no clothes to manifest itself...

I am sure that there is no substantive difference between us on this but my point was strictly aimed at the strength of character aspect and not at religious dogma! Certainly, there are probably few who would have regarded the Dean any the less if he had just suffered his imprisonment. But the thought that any Church (or indeed any religion) could condemn a child to hell for want of ceremony in his untimely passing is not something that, frankly, the might-be congregations of all the empty English churches would be remotely attracted by!
NJS.

[Costi]

I am sure that there is no substantive difference between us on this but my point was strictly aimed at the strength of character aspect and not at religious dogma! Certainly, there are probably few who would have regarded the Dean any the less if he had just suffered his imprisonment.

Nicholas, I understood your idea perfectly (I hope), all I wanted to point out was that it was not an original idea, but rather he acted in the spirit of an existing tradition, which does not take anything from the strength of his character.

But the thought that any Church (or indeed any religion) could condemn a child to hell for want of ceremony in his untimely passing is not something that, frankly, the might-be congregations of all the empty English churches would be remotely attracted by!
NJS.

According to Dante, they go to Limbo, which, although in hell, is a peaceful place, where the souls' only suffering is their longing for the love of God, which they cannot experience. But the company is nice - all the wise men and poets of Antiquity, virtuous men and women who lived before the birth of Christ.

[Simon A]

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[storeynicholas]

Just as long as we do not get back on to smokers' rights (both within Paradise and outside its borders), everything will be just fine. I seem to recall that we covered Hades some time ago.
NJS --ooo000OOO

[Costi]

Rights? What rights?!

[storeynicholas]

Smoking some tobaccos can bring Paradise on earth and even some non-smokers (including reformed heavy smokers ) like the smoking thread in Great Photographs as it has brought out some great images. Therefore, I think that, subject to avoidance of reincarnation as an ant, a spider or a blue caterpiller, we should, in due course, have a vote on smoking in Paradise and ask that the votes be counted by a couple of senior angels and the result be become an entrenched part of the Constitution (unless smokers lose, of course).
NJS --ooo000OOO

[Costi]

Nicholas, if you think you could fill your pipe with myrrh and incense, I don't expect any opposition to smoking in Paradise. The shisha smoking Blue Caterpillar became a non-smoking butterfly, so don't try to make arrangements too long in advance

On a different note... A title caught my eye in a bookstore this afternoon: "If I listened to myself, I would understand myself". Of course, the concept dates back to Apollo's temple in Delphi and before with the "gnothi sauton" inscription, but it sounds so simple that we often forget it's the easiest way if tapping into many resources within ourselves - style included, I believe. Just listen...