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MISFORTUNE
MISINTERPRETATION
MISJUDGMENTS --- MISSIONARIES --- MISSOURI

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MISFORTUNE

see: "UNHAPPINESS" for related links


It is the nature of mortals to kick a fallen man.
--Aeschylus (525—456 B.C.)
Greek tragic dramatist.
_Agamemnon_ [458 B.C.]

Better be wise by the misfortunes of others than by your own.
--Ζsop (c. 620 B.C.—c. 560 B.C.)
(Thought to be a legendary figure.)
_Ζsop Fables_, "The Lion, the Fox, and the Ass"

There are some vile and contemptible men who, allowing
themselves to be conquered by misfortune, seek a refuge
in death.
--Agathon (c. 448—400 B.C.)
Athenian tragic poet.
Attributed in Maturin M. Ballou
_Treasury of Thought_, p. 123 [10th ed. 1884].

[Humorous reply to his mother who had suggested he marry:]
A man's mother is his misfortune, but his wife is his fault.
--Walter Bagehot (1826—1877)
British economist and essayist.
Quoted in _Fraser's Magazine_ [March 1879].

After all, our worst misfortunes never happen,
and most miseries lie in anticipation.
--Honorι de Balzac (1799—1850)
French novelist and playwright.
Attributed in Tryon Edwards _A Dictionary of Thoughts_ [1891 ed.].

The greatest misfortune of all is not to be able to bear misfortune.
--attributed to Bias (c. 6th cent. B.C.)
Greek politician of Priene; considered one of the Seven Sages of Greece.

I am convinced that we have a degree of delight, and that
no small one, in the real misfortunes and pains of others.
--Edmund Burke (1729—1797)
Irish-born Whig politician and man of letters.
_A Philosophical Inquiry into the Origin of Our
Ideas of the Sublime and the Beautiful_, pt. 1 [1756]

The mind which does not wholly sink under misfortune
rises above it more lofty than before, and is strengthened
by affliction.
--Richard Chenevix (1774—1830)
Irish poet and scholar.
_An Essay Upon National Character_, bk. I, ch. III, part II [1832]

Every man should bear his own grievances rather
than detract from the comforts of another.
--Marcus Tullius Cicero (106—43 B.C.)
Roman orator and statesman.
_De officiis_ (On Duties) [44 B.C.]

Reflect on your present blessings, of which every
man has many; not on your past misfortunes, of
which all men have some.
--Charles Dickens (1812—1870)
English novelist.
Attributed in _Indianapolis Medical Journal_, vol XXII, p. 628 [1919].

[When asked to distinguish between misfortune and calamity:]
If Gladstone fell into the Thames, that
would be a misfortune; and if anybody
pulled him out, that, I suppose, would
be a calamity.
--Benjamin Disraeli (1804—1881)
British Tory statesman, novelist, and Prime Minister [1868, 1874—1880].
Quoted in Wilfrid Meynell
_Benjamin Disraeli: An Unconventional Biography_ [1903].

It is the act of an ill-instructed man to blame others
for his own bad condition; it is the act of one who
has begun to be instructed to lay the blame on
himself; and of one whose instruction is completed,
neither to blame another nor himself.
--Epictetus (55—135)
Greek philosopher.
_The Encheiridion_, 5, tr. George Long [1877]

If Mr. [George] Selwyn calls again, show him up:
if I am alive, I shall be delighted to see him; and
if I am dead, he will be delighted to see me.
--Henry Fox (1705—1774)
English Whig politician
Quoted in "The London Quarterly Review" [April 1850].
(Mr. Selwyn had a fondness for seeing dead bodies.)

Mrs. Hardcastle: See me, how calm I am.
Miss Neville: Ay, people are generally calm at the misfortunes of others.
--Oliver Goldsmith (1728—1774)
Anglo-Irish writer, poet, and dramatist.
_She Stoops to Conquer_, III, i [1773 play]

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MISFORTUNES NEVER COME SINGLY

Making toast at the fireside,
Nurse fell in the grate and died;
And what makes it ten times worse,
All the toast was burned with nurse.
--Harry Graham (1874—1936)
British writer and journalist.
_Ruthless Rhymes for Heartless Homes_ [1899]

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Little minds are tamed and subdued by misfortune,
but great minds rise above it.
--Washington Irving (1783—1859)
American writer.
_The Sketch Book_ [1819-20], (p. 327 of the 1894
edition, edited by Elmer Ellsworth Wentworth.)

Acceptance of what has happened is the first step to
overcoming the consequences of any misfortune.
--William James (1842—1910)
American philosopher.
Attributed in Dale Carnegie _How to Stop Worrying and Start Living_ [1948].

Depend upon it that if a man talks of his misfortunes there
is something in them that is not disagreeable to him; for
where there is nothing but pure misery there never is
any recourse to the mention of it.
--Samuel Johnson (1709—1784)
English poet, critic, and lexicographer.
In James Boswell _The Life of Samuel Johnson_ [1791].

We all have strength enough to endure
the misfortunes of others.
--Franηois de La Rochefoucauld (1613—1680)
French classical author.
_Reflections; or, Sentences and Moral Maxims_, maxim 19 [1678]

boss there is always
a comforting thought
in time of trouble when
it is not our trouble.
--Don Marquis (1878—1937)
American poet and journalist.
_archy does his part_ [1935]

The world is quickly bored by the recital
of misfortune, and willingly avoids the
sight of distress.
--W. Somerset Maugham (1874—1965)
English novelist, playwright, and short-story writer.
_The Moon and Sixpence_, ch. 16 [1919]

When I was happy I thought I knew men, but it was
fated that I should know them in misfortune only.
--Napoleon I (1769—1821)
Emperor of France [1804—1815].
_The Table Talk and Opinions of Napoleon Buonaparte_ [1868]

I never knew any man in my life who could not bear
another's misfortunes perfectly like a Christian.
--Alexander Pope (1688—1744)
English poet.
_Thoughts on Various Subjects_ [1727]

It is a good thing to learn caution by the misfortunes of others.
--Publilius Syrus (85—43 B.C.)
Latin writer of mimes who was originally a slave.
Quoted by Sir Richard Steele in "The Guardian", # 147 [29 August 1713].

You have to accept whatever comes and the only
important thing is that you meet it with courage
and with the best that you have to give.
--Eleanor Roosevelt (1884—1962)
American human rights activist, diplomat, and
wife of U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
Essay in Edward P. Morgan (ed.) _This I Believe ..._ [1952].

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But it is Schadenfreude, a mischievous delight in the misfortunes of
others, which remains the worst trait in human nature. It is a feeling
which is closely akin to cruelty, and differs from it, to say the truth,
only as theory from practice. In general, it may be said that it takes
the place which pity ought to take — pity which is its opposite, and
the true source of all real justice and charity [....]

Envy, although it is a reprehensible feeling, still admits of some
excuse, and is, in general, a very human quality; whereas the
delight in mischief [Schadenfreude] is diabolical, and its taunts
are the laughter of hell.

--Arthur Schopenhauer (1788—1860)
German philosopher.
"On Human Nature" in _Essays of Arthur
Schopenhauer_, tr. T. Bailey Saunders [1889].

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There is nothing so wretched or foolish as to anticipate misfortunes.
What madness it is in your expecting evil before it arrives!
--Lucius Annaeus Seneca (4 BC—65 A.D.)
Roman philosopher and poet.
_Epistoloe Ad Lucilium_, XCVIII as attributed in
J. K. Hoyt (ed.) _The Cyclopedia of Practical Quotations_, p. 727 [1896].

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The worst is not
So long as we can say 'This is the worst.'
--William Shakespeare (1564—1616)
English dramatist.
_King Lear_, IV, i [1605-06]


Misery acquaints a man with strange bedfellows.
--William Shakespeare (1564—1616)
English dramatist.
_The Tempest_, II, ii [1611-12]


Wherever we shall meet, for Timon's sake
Let's yet be fellows; let's shake our heads, and say,
As 'twere a knell unto our master's fortunes,
We have seen better days.
--William Shakespeare (1564—1616)
English dramatist.
_The Life of Timon of Athens_, IV, ii [1623]

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If all men would bring their misfortunes together in one place,
most would be glad to take his own home again, rather than
to take a proportion out of the common stock.
--Solon (630?—560? B.C.)
Athenian lawmaker and Lyric poet.
Attributed in _Mental Recreation Or, Select
Maxims_ [Longman & Rees, London, 1831].

To an envious man, nothing is more delightful than
another's misfortune, and nothing more painful
than another's success.
--Benedict de Spinoza (1632—1677)
Dutch-Jewish philosopher, the foremost exponent of 17th century Rationalism.
_Ethics_ [1677], "Man's Loves And Hates"

We cannot be kind to each other here for an hour;
we whisper, and hint, and chuckle, and grin at a
brother's shame. However we brave it out, we
men are a little breed.
--Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809—1892)
English poet.
_Maud; A Monodra_ [1856]

The fatal law of gravity: when you are
down everything falls on you.
--attributed to Sylvia Townsend Warner (1893—1978)
English writer.

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Philosophy may teach us to bear with equanimity
the misfortunes of our neighbors.
--Oscar Wilde (1854—1900)
Anglo-Irish dramatist and poet.
_The English Renaissance of Art_ [1882]


Misfortunes one can endure: they come from outside,
they are accidents. But to suffer for one's own faults
— ah! there is the sting of life.
--Oscar Wilde (1854—1900)
Anglo-Irish dramatist and poet.
_Lady Windermere's Fan_ [1892]

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schadenfreude (noun) ['shahd-n-froi-dκ]
Mischief-joy, pleasure in the misfortune of others.




MISINTERPRETATION

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see: "MISUNDERSTOOD"
see: "COMMUNICATION" for other related links


Much unhappiness has come into the world because
of bewilderment and things left unsaid.
--attributed to Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1821—1881),
Russian novelist, journalist, and short story writer.

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I'm not sure people understood a lot of what I was
writing about. I don't even know if I would understand
them if I believed everything that has been written
about them by imbeciles who wouldn't know the first
thing about writing songs. I've always said the organized
media propagated me as something I never pretended
to be ... all this spokesman of conscience thing. A lot
of my songs were definitely misinterpreted by people
who didn't know any better, and it goes on today.

Q: Give me an example of a song that has been widely
misinterpreted.

A: Take "Masters of War." Every time I sing it, someone
writes that it's an antiwar song. But there's no antiwar
sentiment in that song. I'm not a pacifist. I don't think
I've ever been one. If you look closely at the song, it's
about what Eisenhower was saying about the dangers
of the military-industrial complex in this country. I
believe strongly in everyone's right to defend
themselves by every means necessary.

--Bob Dylan [Robert Allen Zimmerman] (b. 1941)
American singer and songwriter.
Interview with Robert Hilburn [2004].

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MISJUDGMENTS

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see: "MISTAKES" for related links


Iran under the great leadershop of the Shah is an island of
stability in one of the most troubled areas of the world. This
is a great tribute to you, your Majesty, and to your leadership
and to the respect, admiration, and love which your people
give to you.
--Jimmy Carter (b. 1924)
American Democratic statesman, President [1977—1981].
Toasting the Shah a year before he was deposed, Tehran [31 December 1977].

In spite of the hardness and ruthlessness I thought
I saw in his [Hitler's] face, I got the impression that
here was a man who could be relied upon when he
had given his word.
--Neville Chamberlain (1869—1940)
British Conservative politician, Prime Minister [1937—1940].
After returning from the Munich Conference in 1938.

You'll never get anywhere with all
those damn little short sentences.
--Greg Clark,
Remark to fellow "Toronto Star" reporter
Ernest Hemingway early in his career.

"Gone with the Wind" is going to be the biggest flop
in Hollywood history. I'm just glad it'll be Clark Gable
who's falling flat on his face and not Gary Cooper.
--Gary Cooper (1901—1961)
American film actor.
After Gable's acceptance of the Rhett Butler role Cooper had turned down,
in Larry Swindell _The Last Hero: A Biography of Gary Cooper_ [1980].

You ain't goin' nowhere with *that,* son.
You ought to go back to drivin' a truck.
--Jim Denny,
"Grand Ole Opry" booking agent.
Remark to Elvis Presley after hearing his first "Opry" performance.

I do not consider Hitler as bad as he is depicted.
He is showing an ability that is amazing, and he
seems to be gaining his victories without much
bloodshed.
--Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869—1948)
Indian statesman and leader of the nationalistic movement against British rule.
May 1940 remark, quoted in Robert Payne
_The Life and Death of Mahatma Gandhi_ [1969].

The energy produced by the atom is a very poor kind
of thing. Anyone who expects a source of power from
the transformation of these atoms is talking moonshine.
--Lord Ernest Rutherford (1871—1937)
British physicist and winner of the 1908 Nobel Prize.
(September 1933, soon after the first experimental
splitting of the atom - Q.)

Louis, forget it. No Civil War picture ever made a nickle.
--Irving Thalberg (1899—1936)
American film producer.
Remark to Louis B. Mayer on hearing about
plans to make "Gone with the Wind."




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MISSIONARIES

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see: "RELIGION" for related links

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They were white. And they were missionaries. But
they meant to bring basic health care and safe water
as well as Christianity; they felt that the gospel's call
to "preach good news to the poor" referred at least
as much to reducing poverty on earth as to uplifting
the poor in spirit. "You can't spiritualize that passage,"
Paul, the father, tall, sturdy, and bearded, believed.
"You can't just go around telling people Jesus loves
you, so everything'll be hunky-dory if you have faith
in Him. You can't just tell people this world is not
my home. The gospel means action as well as words.
The biblical mandate is to treat the whole person,
not to divide things into the spiritual and the material.
I want to build water systems so little kids will stop
shitting themselves to death."

"Lord," he wrote in a booklet of prayers, published
by his church back in the States, "Lord, give me a
heart that breaks."

--Daniel Bergner,
_In the Land of Magic Soldiers: A Story of Black and White_ [2003]

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When the white Christian missionaries went to Africa, the
white folks had the bibles and the natives had the land.
When the missionaries pulled out, they had the land and
the natives had the bibles.
--Dick Gregory (b. 1932)
American comedian and social activist.
Quoted in _Black Manifesto_ (eds. Lecky & Wright) [1969].

The gods of the Disc have never bothered much
about judging the souls of the dead, and so people
only go to hell if that's where they believe, in their
deepest heart, that they deserve to go. Which they
won't do if they don't know about it. This explains
why it is so important to shoot missionaries on
sight.
--Terry Pratchett (b. 1948)
English science fiction writer.
_Eric_ [1990]

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In this region of Travancore [southwestern India]
where I now am ... I made Christians of more than
ten thousand. This is the method I have followed. As
soon as I arrived in any heathen village where they
had sent for me to give baptisms, I gave orders for all
men, women and children to be collected in one
place. Then, beginning with the first elements of the
Christian faith, I taught them there is one God —
father, son and holy ghost — and at the same time ...
I made them each make three times the sign of the
cross. Then, putting on a surplice, I began to recite
in a loud voice and in their own language the form
of a general confession, the apostles' creed, the ten
commandments [and] the Lord's prayer ... Where
the people appeared to me sufficiently instructed
to receive baptism, I ordered them all to ask God's
pardon publicly for the sins of their past life, and to
do this with a loud voice and in the presence of their
neighbors still hostile to the Christian religion ...
Then at last I baptize them in due form and I give
to each his name written on a ticket. After their
baptism, the new Christians go back to their houses
and bring me their wives and families for baptism.
When all are baptized, I order all the temples of their
false gods to be destroyed and all the idols to be
broken in pieces. I can give you no idea of the joy
I find in seeing this done.

--St. Francis Xavier (1506—1552)
Roman Catholic missionary.
(To the Jesuit fathers at Rome from Cochin, India, [27 January 1545]),
in H.J. Coleridge _The Life and Letters of St. Francis Xavier_ [1886]
Vol. 1, pp. 280—281.

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Missionary: A man chosen to give ferocious cannibals their
first taste of religion.

Missionary: A man who teaches cannibals to say grace
before they eat him.




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MISSOURI

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see: "PLACES"


A Missourian gets used to Southerners thinking him a Yankee,
a Northerner considering him a cracker, a Westerner sneering
at his effete Easternness, and the Easterner taking him for a
cowhand.
--William Least Heat Moon [Bill Trogdon] (b. 1939)
American author.
_Blue Highways_ [1982]


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