Tea at Trianon: In Fiction, There is Truth

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

Thursday, June 20, 2024

In Fiction, There is Truth

From The History Desk:

In truth, new stories grow out of the old stories. For example, the hero’s journey story is often told in the ancient myths. Gilgamesh, Theseus, Psyche, Abraham, and Moses, to name a few. Those heroes have influenced us through the ages. The names change and they remix the plot, but the theme remains the same. Because it is the theme that is the guts of the story, the reason why it is being told. As the philosopher and novelist, Ayn Rand, said decades back, you cannot separate the philosopher from the novelist. I say, you cannot separate the teacher from the storyteller. We tell stories for a reason.

The storyteller teaches through stories. No matter what part of life, what part of your soul you want to master, there is a story for that.

The truth in the fiction is in our reactions to it. Did you like the story? Why? That tells you something about you, so introspect. The flip side is this; did you dislike that story? Why? That can open the door just as widely. Carl Jung had a saying: “What you resist, persists.” Which means what you don’t like, can be an instructive can of worms, if you open it.

Stories are gold when you want to move up in life. I use stories to teach leadership skills. Indeed, stories are loaded with wisdom when it comes to competent, and incompetent, leaders. What is truly fun about the stories is you learn that leaders come from the least expected places. Because authentic leaders know no class system. From the lowest on the economic scale, to the highest, the personality of the leader is innate. He or she has to lead like a dancer has to dance. Like the dancer, the skills needed must be taught and developed. There are stories that cover all aspects of leadership development, including deep dives into failures. Because you learn as much from failure as you do from positive outcomes. (Read more.)