Friday, July 27, 2007

Passion Pride Prudence

Passion like fire can be a dangerous thing. I used to think that all you need is passion to succeed. That is such a romantic view - I use the word romantic in the classic sense of the word- not connected with eros.

Passion and Pride - twin sisters. A lethal combination. Both encourage each other. Both spur each other on. Their older sister, Prudence is somewhere in the background- shouting out advice. But without her in charge, they can do whatever they like.

Indeed  - "Passion knows no rules, nor place, nor time." (Vatyayana) It laughs at boundaries. Its pursuit is relentless.

They can do spectacular things. But without Prudence's steady and sound advice, their plans are doomed to failure. Maybe they want to fail.

Prudence is sensible. Prudence is boring. She won't wear high heels. You won't catch her chasing the latest fashion trends. But she's everything worked out and she's comfortable doing her own thing.

She is the handmaiden to Wisdom, one of the ancients. ...



No comments: