Tea at Trianon: The Lost Art of Enjoying People

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Monday, October 8, 2007

The Lost Art of Enjoying People

A magnificent article by Mitchell Kalpakgian. To quote:

Human beings, then, are sheer delight because of their infinite variety; overflowing fountains of joy, love, and goodness because of their spiritual depths; and bountiful sources of laughter, conversation, and wisdom because of their playful, rational, and social nature. So why are people not fully appreciated as life's greatest source of true pleasure? Why has a love of things surpassed the enjoyment of people, and why have the more temporal pursuits of gratification -- travel, education, career, health -- replaced the more eternal sources of happiness? In a consumerist society such as ours, one is accustomed to purchasing pleasure, receiving instant gratification, and living in comfortable ease. The enjoyment of persons is an art, however, and like all arts (ars longa, vita brevis -- art is long, life is brief), it requires time, effort, practice, patience, and commitment. It takes an effort to know a person, initiate a conversation, cultivate a friendship, conduct a courtship, or receive guests with hospitality. The pleasure of a child demands constant care, diligent teaching, and habitual training in manners and morals. The joy of a marriage tests both husband and wife to give, love, and sacrifice more and more in the course of a whole lifetime -- to carry crosses, to honor vows, and to be generous and forgiving. The pleasure of friendship involves visits, letters, invitations, and communication. Unlike easy consumerist purchases, these arts require a lifetime of cultivation.

Terry Nelson said...: I knew you would pick up on this - I considered posting on it. :); October 8, 2007 at 11:08:00 AM EDT
elena maria vidal said...: It is a good article, isn't it? His publisher is The Neumann Press, too.; October 8, 2007 at 11:19:00 AM EDT
Anonymous said...: And therein lies the conundrum.....the purchase of pleasure, (purchase being the operative word here), requires money for which one must work long hours to achieve, which takes time away from cultivating the pleasures of old that did not cost anything. Since the Industrial Revolution, (industrial being the operative work here), the wealthy social class who made money off someone else's labor no longer exists.; October 8, 2007 at 1:52:00 PM EDT
Widow Capet said...: I very much enjoyed that article. :D; October 8, 2007 at 4:14:00 PM EDT