For what it is worth, here are some thoughts on "being" from Erich Fromm. It is from his book "To have or to be?"
--
The mode of being has as its prerequisties independence, freedom, and the presence of critical reason. Its fundamental characteristic is that of being active, not in the sense of outward activity, of busyness, but of inner activity, the productive use of our human powers.
To be active means to give expression to ones faculties, talents, to the wealth of human
gifts with which-- though in varying degrees--every human being is endowed.
It means to renew oneself, to grow, to flow out, to love, to transcend the prison of one's isolated ego, to be interested, to "list", to give.
---
ok-- I'm off to pick up a truck.
Have a peaceful day,
Jim
8 comments:
Hi Jim.
That's some good stuff. I'm sorry I was unable to help you move, coming down to Champaign is one of my favorite things to do. In fact, when I take I294 south to go work @ Hillside Library I often tell myself that some day soon I'm going to be getting on that expressway not to go to Hillside, but to go to school @ UIUC... :-)
Today I'm working the computer desk @ Skokie. I usually like to ride my bike, but today I was unable to. The eight mile bike ride usually wears me out though, and I like having that extra gusto and enthusiasm at work. I find that even though working in a library doesn't require much physical work, it's still nice to be high energy, yet calm and patient.
That's it for now, I hope everyone has a great Friday and weekend. I'm going golfing in Wisconsin with Charlie on Sunday, and tomorrow I work the Lab @ Hillside.
-Dan @ Skokie Public Library
Yeah I like that a lot. :)
Very nice - at least the parts I understood. What does "to 'list'" mean?
And your new location is great. That neighborhood was one of my favorite places to walk in Urbana.
What the? I was wondering the same thing about "to list" ... To my surprise I found several definitions of the verb, but I'll argue that it is the transitive verb that Fromm was suggesting.
transitive verb
Date: 1635
1: to cut away a narrow strip from the edge of.
2: to prepare or plant (land) in ridges and furrows with a lister.
- A lister is some kind of plowing tool (what, you didn't know that?), so I think Fromm was implying that we keep our minds in a state where things can grow, or keep the soil of our minds active so to speak.
hey all -- move completed. bed ordered from ikea. will be delivered in 3-5 days. sleeping on couch. methinks Fromm originally wrote in German. there may be a German word for "list" that means something like hardworkfeelings, it was in quotes in the book-so maybe we don't have and english equivalent. your guess is as good as mine. san diemas high school football rules. we better find an army for tom. - j
Yes! Good to hear you finished the move.
Thanks for all the answers re: "to list." It's helpful to have some insight from people with humanities backgrounds. Those crazy Germans are always smushing words together. Do they have a word for "nighttimecaralarmringingannoyance?" I think that's what I'm experiencing right now.
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