Tea at Trianon: 8 Reasons to Stop Cussing

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

Wednesday, April 5, 2017

8 Reasons to Stop Cussing

From TFP:

Real Men Don’t Cuss
Real men know that vulgarity doesn't breed character and virtue. So they don't cuss.
In fact, George Washington issued the following order in 1776:

"The General is sorry to be informed that the foolish, and wicked practice of profane cursing and swearing (a vice heretofore little known in an American Army) is growing into fashion; he hopes the officers will, by example, as well as influence, endeavor to check it, and that both they, and the men will reflect, that we can have little hopes of the blessing of Heaven on our Arms, if we insult it by our impiety, and folly; added to this, it is a vice so mean and low, without any temptation, that every man of sense, and character, detests and despises it."

2. Cussing Degrades Us
Foul language, cussing, and cursing is vulgar, indecent and irreverent. The constant use of foul language drags us down and undermines mutual respect. For example, if a teacher uses foul language in the classroom, he shows an appalling lack of respect for his students, no self-control, and utter irreverence for his position as teacher. But someone might object: "A few foul words won't hurt anyone, right?" Wrong. As author Paul Bourget said: “One must live as one thinks, under pain of sooner or later ending up thinking as one has lived.” In other words, if we use dirty language, we open the door to dirty thoughts and dirty behavior. (Read more.)