by Marty Coleman | Oct 5, 2010 | Fame, Marcus Aurelius |
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Day #2 of ‘Fame Week” at The Napkin Dad Daily. Today we move into the Roman Empire with a quote by my favorite Emperor, Marcus Aurelius.
So, we started with Socrates talking about the perfume of heroic deeds being what fame is made of. Now, 500-600 years later we read the Emperor Aurelius saying it will all fade away, fame and the famous. What happened to make that transformation?
Well, most likely it was Marcus Aurelius’ own observations of the history of his time. The golden age of Greece was ancient history to him by then, they were unearthing old remnants of that era and reconstructing some element of it but overall they saw it as long gone. Even the rich and famous and powerful of his day were supplanted and forgotten. The death of Caesar was already almost 200 years in the past. That is roughly akin in our era to remembering back to the death of George Washington in 1799.
Yes, George is still famous. Yes, Caesar is still famous. But the Emperor is not really talking about those exceptions to the rule. He is talking about the hundreds and thousands and millions of others who thought themselves so important, so indispensable who are now forgotten by all.
It’s a sad thought in some ways, but it is a good thought in many more ways. It keeps us focused on the reality of now. We may be remembered for a while, maybe hundreds or even thousands of years in some cases. but it’s not likely and it’s not something to depend on.
What we can depend on is now. You are here now. What deed can you do now? What obscure and unseen gesture can you do now to help a friend, encourage a co-worker? Will it lead to fame? Not likely. But will it lead to love and kindness growing? Yes, it will. And that is worth more than all the fame you could ever gather for yourself.
Drawing by Marty Coleman of The Napkin Dad Daily
Quote by Marcus Aurelius, 121-180 CE, Stoic philosopher, Emperor of the Roman Empire
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by Marty Coleman | Oct 4, 2010 | Fame, Socrates |
Let’s have a ‘Fame Week’ at The Napkin Dad Daily, shall we? I want to go through history and see how the perception has changed. First up, Socrates.
Not much has changed since Socrates lent this quote to history. Back in the day, the mythic stories were all about the Greek military heroes. Epic battles for the love of a woman, the pleasure of the Gods and the admiration of the people combined with the need for land, food, slaves, power, and glory to make for military sagas on land and sea, with the resulting fame for the men who prevailed, or in some cases died valiantly in the pursuit.
But the truth is no different than it is today. Military fame is founded on ‘heroic’ deeds, but war is a terrible and wasteful way to find glory. Any man or woman in combat will come back and tell you, it is anything but glory they are going through. But nonetheless, heroic deeds that sometimes demand their life are found throughout military history, on good and bad sides of the battle.
Let’s see through the week how the perception of fame over the centuries has been amended and expanded.
Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman of The Napkin Dad Daily
Quote by Socrates, 469-399 BCE, Greek Athenian Philosopher
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by Marty Coleman | Oct 3, 2010 | Sketchbook History Tour |
I used to take public transportation often. I loved drawing while on a bus, subway or train. There is something liberating about knowing you can’t control the line, you just have to create within the parameters of a jostling, bumpy series of movements. It’s a great exercise in gesture drawing for one, but it’s also great for allowing for the happy mistake again and again.
This was actually a woman I saw on the train. She had the headband and she had the strong angular look. I didn’t draw her while looking at her, she was just someone I saw passing, but I remembered the look and had her in mind as I made up this drawing. Why I added the tie and the mini-story, I have no idea, but it made sense at the time!
Here is another from that same train ride.
Drawings © 2016 Marty Coleman | napkindad.com
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by Marty Coleman | Oct 2, 2010 | aha moment, Marty Coleman |
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Saturday Vintage – A napkin from around 1998 that I put in my daughters’ lunches to take to school. I didn’t start dating the napkins until 2000, and even then only did it sporadically.
In honor of Autumn’s arrival and the resulting leaves falling from the sky I thought I would give you ‘Nose Leaf Man’. I hope you are enjoying a beautiful fall wherever you are!
Don’t forget to vote for The Napkin Dad in his bid to be an ‘aha moment’ finalist! If you tried yesterday the response was too much for their servers and they crashed. They are up and running again now and voting should be a cinch! You can vote once per computer.
Thanks,
Marty
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by Marty Coleman | Oct 1, 2010 | Anonymous |
Feed the belly of the beast or save it all, live on or off the grid, sacrifice it all or spend your time gathering only for yourself. Whatever you do, if you are alive, you have hope. It might be hard, and even worse, it might be too easy, but life is what you have now. Later maybe not, but now yes. Make of it what you can.
Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman of The Napkin Dad Daily
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