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leephillips

D.H. Lawrence's take on Franklin's virtues is immortal:

http://www2.sunysuffolk.edu/lewiss/lawrence.htm

My high school English teacher, Frank McCourt, used to love reading this out loud.

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Enjoyed this much better than the actual linked article.

I love Lawrence's take on the thirteen. While I don't agree with them all in their entirety, he makes some really deep, visceral, and compelling points about the human experience.

I think anyone who tries can make their own seemingly compelling points about the human experience. We all live a human experience. And it's easy to make proclamations and virtues and tell yourself how you're going to live. It's a different animal to try and live by them.

I never said they would be worth trying to live by. I said they were interesting.

I don't know; to me this is grating in its own way.

> A Quaker friend told Franklin that he, Benjamin, was generally considered proud, so Benjamin put in the Humility touch as an afterthought. The amusing part is the sort of humility it displays. 'Imitate Jesus and Socrates,' and mind you don't outshine either of these two. One can just imagine Socrates and Alcibiades roaring in their cups over Philadel- phian Benjamin, and Jesus looking at him a little puzzled, and murmuring: 'Aren't you wise in your own conceit, Ben?'

Is this written in jest or is it just poor reading comprehension? It's obvious a writer like Franklin wrote "Imitate Jesus and Socrates" on purpose. It's a self-referential reminder of the kind of statement that doesn't indicate humility. Notice how short it is compared to all the other virtue descriptions. If you read more Franklin you know that he likes witticisms.

I love this. I'm sorry for the off-topic post, but for anyone who hasn't read DH Lawrence's poetry, I would recommend it. It's not as clean as his contemporaries, but it's full of fiery insights, and there are only a handful of poets I pick up as often. "Snake" is one of my favorites.

https://www.poetsgraves.co.uk/Classic%20Poems/Lawrence/snake...

The Frank McCourt? Angela's Ashes Frank McCourt?

Well he did teach English. At Stuyvessant if I recall correctly.

Yes, every semester for 2.5 years while at Stuyvesant H.S.

I remember his voice clearly, when he paused and said, "I do not like him."

What was it like having him as a teacher? His writings portray him as deeply passionate about the field & a very genuine human being; I'd be interested to know how your experience compared.

Also, I'm incredibly jealous.

Well, put it this way: One day there was some kind of staffing glitch, and one of my classes had no teacher. So 30 students were left to their own devices; some snuck outside, some went to the cafeteria to socialize, some to the library, or to the auditorium, which was used as a kind of study hall. At the time, McCourt was covering Hamlet. Remember high school? Every subject, every day, for forty minutes. I went to McCourt’s classroom, found the one empty desk, and sat down. He glanced at me and kept on going, without missing a beat.

I re-read Hamlet every few years. In my inner voice, the characters have a tendency to slip into an Irish accent.

Wow; that's fantastic. Clear from these posts that he had a profound impact on you.

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