In my mere 24 years, I have learned at least one thing of great import, prompting me to quote:
“Nothing in excess; everything in moderation.”
If we, in all of our philosophocal ruminations (whether laymen or expert), could stop and ponder the importance of moderation, we could all participate in making the world a better place.
Not a very profound insight… and yet, so, profound!
It is, perhaps, no coincidence, that it is not said moder"ism" but rather moderation.
universal law we all “have to” abide by,
eat/drink/breathe to survive.
does the man who buys a ferrari enzo ponder the value of moderation?
the only universal law of conduct is that we are responsible for our own actions. that said somneones course of action may involve attempting to take control of you(therefore resulting in competetion)in which you are both still responsible for your actions but your wills(decided courses of action) are mutually vying for control of the situation.
if you want to practice moderation great for you, but don’t tell me that I shoud too.
what i’m saying is that men who are not great at anything may do well to act in moderation(as not everyone is great at everything, or anything for that matter) but if you are of the ability to act in a great way acting in moderation is a limitation you set for yourself.
Let me draw a distinction between the title and the content of my post. I will admit that the title is hyperbole. It is my first time starting a thread, so I wanted to draw people to the post. I am libertarian in nature, so I would not propose to tell people what they should do. Having said that, the message that I was trying to convey is that the world, as it relates to human action, would be less destructive and more constructive if more people practiced moderation. I will draw an example from your post:
Recall that Adolf Hitler was “of the ability to act in a great way,” and indeed he did just that, culminating in the deaths of millions, which could have been averted would he have practiced some moderation.
If one wishes to believe something, then believe it. If one wishes to do something then do it; I say only to keep in mind that limitations on anything is good.
There is an earthly law, but who are we – to the universe??
I agree with the OP.
I also, as usual, have no idea what Dan~ is talking about.
Neither do i
In keeping the spirit of moderation…what one person’s limit is may be extreme excess to another. I see moderation based on the resources a person has to spend. Someone who is buying a ferrari may see that as a limit if they are capable of spending millions on something. Of course, most of us who couldn’t afford one would see that as extreme because that’s out of our scope. A weight lifter may be able to lift a certain weight, but showing moderation would result in NOT using all that strength and lift something lighter. We ARE resposible for what we say, do, and think. Showing moderation is not using all our resources on something.
That’s just a general thought…there are some cases where it’s all or nothing, but that’s at the discretion of the person.
DAN; There is an earthly law, but who are we – to the universe??
i dont think the universe cares who we are, why should we care back?
if the universe were conscious i would compare us to the twinkle our noses before we sneeze. a pressure that is eventually released.
more on your level dan?
as for hitler, great ability only speaks to ones potential, but if Hitler acted in moderation would we remember him? we measure true greatness in deeds.
obviously we have the capacity(some of us) for great deeds, some of those deeds will be viewed as “good” and some as “bad”. is the conquering of a nation not a great deed?, is leading a country into a battle not a great deed?, is the defeat of your enemy not the goal of any war? I’m not saying Hitler was a great man in the moral sense but he was greater than most people you will find working at McDonalds(even if he was more immoral)
i agree; besides history is always written by those who win the wars…
If all you are fit for is moderation then, by all means, live out your life in teaspoons and die of old age.
But die quietly please!
Don’t make your lack of courage a virtue.
Philosophy as a road of moderation; a preparation for death…
OK Its yours.
But if its all the same with you or even if it isn’t…
Some of us might just live life any way and maybe even run to a little excess if it pleases us
There are the spiritually consumptive ones: hardly are they born when they begin to die, and long for doctrines of weariness and renunciation.
Nietzsche - Thus Spoke Zarathustra 1. 9 The Preachers of Death
Oh please.
Enjoy it, plunder it?
The resources on earth have limit.
Any gain by one is a loss by another.
There can be fair trade. There can be symbiosis. But there can be debochery, lust and greed.
The human body was born into a struggle against nature, and nature is himself, he is an extension of nature.
The system was built for scarcity, but once scarcity is gone, syntheic scarcity arose.
There is:
Capitalism was made as a reaction to scarcity.
Under capitalism what is rare is worth more, even if it is useless.
Pearls, gold, diamons, all of these are shit.
Water, food, unity, peace, ← these are worth far more.
What is correct is opposite of the system, thus fails within the system.
I want technocracy, collectivism, etc.
But will we get it?
Capitalism is most natural to the human, because of the genes, the nature and the desire.
Krossie: “Don’t make your lack of courage a virtue”
Are you equating a decision to pursue moderation with a lack of courage? Curbing excessivity in favor of moderation can be easily seen as common sense; what does that have to do with courage?
Can one not live out their lives fully, take risks, fulfill thier abilities (whether grand or not) and not at the same time have practiced some moderation?
I have either misrepresented myself or those on here have misunderstood me. When I have time I will come back on and clarify myself with respect to my posts.
There are two different ways I react to “Everything in moderation”. The first way is emotional, intuitive, instinctual. In that respect, I completely agree with Krossie. There are few things less appealing to me than living a half-assed life where you moderate your fun and moderate your work and moderate everything you do, so that you have 2.5 kids and a white picket fence and when you die, the thin layer of dust that covers your grave is enough to bury all that you have ever done and everything you have ever felt.
But this being a philosophy forum, I think my intellectual reaction is more relevant. And intellectualy, I also have nothing but contempt for that statement. Everything in moderation, always? That sounds like a fairly extreme, non-moderate statement to me. In fact, I believe “everything in moderation” is self-contradictory.
A non-self-contradictory version might read “many things in moderation”. I guess that might apply.
But come on, there are so many things that we shouldn’t do in moderation. Breathe, for one. I breathe excessively. I do it ALL THE TIME. I never stop, and I never want to stop. That’s not really moderate, but it IS acceptable.
How about consuming mercury? Just a little mercury? Drink mercury in moderation? Of course not - never drink mercury, EVER.
And if you try to argue that no mercury, or breathing as often as I do, IS moderate, then it would seem “everything in moderation” is true - by tautology. Thus not interesting. “Everything in moderation” becomes nothing more than a redefinition of what is best, and of course we should all try for what is best, whatever anyone thinks that is.
Twiffy brings up good points, though moderate can also mean “within reasonable limits”. Obiviously, “no mercury” is more reasonable than “just a little”.
And also, excess can mean overendulgence or surplus, so it’s more interpretation than anything.
Sure the planet is being sucked dry but it’s mainly due to the reign of a tiny class of blood sucking pests (also known as “entrepreneurs” even tho’ almost all their wealth is inherited). And the main reason they rule is “the moderation” of everyone else.
The great are only great because we are on our knees.
Maybe there will be no greatness left when everybody becomes great but surely it would beat this worm like existence.
Emotions kick the shit out of intellect any old day.
The bosses know it well and have built an entire industry to manipulate, control and direct emotion to the purchase of baubles.
At the very best intellect can, maybe, be a guide.
At the worse it’s the “common sense progress” on which technocratic capitalism shapes us into obedient robots - happy slaves in consumer-garlanded chains celebrating our “rational self interest” while the majority starve and the resources run out.
Krossie
Wrong.
“Extremism in the pursuit of liberty is no vice; moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue”–Sen. Barry Goldwater
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Wrong
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Best philosophical counter-argument to date.