Uncle Albert in a can.

July 23 2015
Uncle Albert in a can (again). 

Three maxims, or sentences, from Uncle Albert.*

Uncle A,Paris 1996

Those that believe in “the power and authority of reason” almost always mean their own lines of reasoning. It doesn’t occur to them that those lines, however carefully and logically drawn, may have begun in utter nonsense.

We share our wisdom with the implicit assumption that those we share it with are the only ones capable of understanding both how profound and right it is and how wrong-headed and shallow is the rest of the world’s folly. Too often, this sharing takes place in church, synagogue, or mosque.

What comes of eating and, especially, drinking too much: We are quickly duzzled. We begin to act like politicians, pundits, or preachers; our tongues begin to wag, and we make foolish predictions and promises we shall soon forget.

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*Regular readers of The Ambiguities will know my dear, maddening (unrelated) Uncle Albert. Others interested in the nonagenarian admirer of La Rochefoucauld, former French professor at Bretagne and Chanceux Colleges, and current yeller at Fox News, can check out the 2014 TA index here ["My Uncle Albert"] or send a self-addressed stamped envelope to crabbiolio@gmail.com.