210126 What I learned in my studies this morning

A really good set today. Much to think about. Especially given my belief in the necessity of persuading others and never using force against a non-aggressive person. 

Today's Tao:

The wise do not hold opinions. 

They are aware of the needs of others. 

I am good to people who are good. 

I am also good to people who are not good, 

Because Virtue is goodness. 

I have faith in people who are faithful. 

I also have faith in people who are not faithful, 

Because Virtue is faithfulness. 

The sage is shy and humble — to the world he seems confusing. 

Others look to him and listen.

He behaves like small children. 

From The Daily Stoic: 

 

No one can make me think or feel something I don't want to think or feel. I have the power to act as I will. 

A wise person once said, "The first thought that goes through your mind is what you have been conditioned to think. What you think next defines who you are."

“Erase the false impressions from your mind by constantly saying to yourself , I have it in my soul to keep out any evil, desire or any kind of disturbance—instead, seeing the true nature of things, I will give them only their due. Always remember this power that nature gave you.”—Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 8.29

From Eric Hoffer, Part III, Unifying Agents:

Persuasion and Coercion 

Propaganda works. Propaganda works better with coercion. Effective Movements use both. 

We tend today to exaggerate the effectiveness of persuasion as a means of inculcating opinion and shaping behavior. We see in propaganda a formidable instrument. To its skillful use we attribute many of the startling successes of the mass movements of our time, and we have come to fear the word as much as the sword.

... 

The truth seems to be that propaganda on its own cannot force its way into unwilling minds; neither can it inculcate something wholly new; nor can it keep people persuaded once they have ceased to believe. It penetrates only into minds already open, and rather than instill opinion it articulates and justifies opinions already present in the minds of its recipients. The gifted propagandist brings to a boil ideas and passions already simmering in the minds of his hearers. He echoes their innermost feelings. Where opinion is not coerced, people can be made to believe only in what they already “know.”

... 

So acknowledged a master of propaganda as Dr. Goebbels admits in an unguarded moment that “A sharp sword must always stand behind propaganda if it is to be really effective.”

(The True Believer, XIV-83)