Chapter 6

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"In a world of peace and love music would be the universal language." -Henry David Thoreau (The Art of Being Human tenth edition, Richard Paul Janaro, Thelma C. Altshuler, Henry David Thoreau, Page 156, left margin)

13th century, Christian and Muslim playing ouds Catinas de Santa Maria by king Alfonso X, Europe, Alfonso X, "The Wise"

Even if you don't understand someone's language you can always appreciate their music. The sounds of the instruments can be alluring enough to coax you to want to stay and listen. I love listening to German music and any music that's sung in a Celtic language, even though I don't fully know what they are saying yet. I am trying to learn though!

In a world that is just filled with peace and love music could be shared with everyone and cultures could peacefully share their folk stories and traditions. Music is the reason I got so excited to learn Gaeliege and find out more about my heritage. Songs can get others interested to learn about the stories of another culture.

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"Music provides a kind of pleasure which human nature cannot do without" -Confucius (The Art of Being Human tenth edition, Richard Paul Janaro, Thelma C. Altshuler, Confucius, Page 161, right margin)

1889, Russian Boy with Balalaika, Russia, Wilhelm Amandus Beer

Music isn't just a good pass time for people it also helps people with exceptionalities. Music therapy is an amazing way to treat people with memory issues, schizophrenia, Alzheimer's, and ADHD. Out university is one of the few universities in the state that offers a degree in music therapy. On a downside to that is the program is really selective and can be hard to actually get into.
Personally, I don't know where I would be without music. I have ADHD so I have a hard time focusing on doing anything that involves reading or writing without having something in my ear playing. I love to read and write so without music I wouldn't have a huge part of who I am. Music has also helped me cope with other health and family issues that I don't wish to get into details about.

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"Our sweetest songs are those that tell the saddest thoughts" -Percy Bysshe Shelley (The Art of Being Human tenth edition, Richard Paul Janaro, Thelma C. Altshuler, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Page 170, left margin)

 around 1583-1666, Jester with lute, Haarlem, Frans Hals

This quote is completely true I'm just not sure why we like sad music. Songs with sadder undertones or just straight-up sad lyrics seem to be more appealing. They make us think and feel so maybe that's why we like them so much. Humans are just big loving babies at times, a lot of people just want to help others feel good or seek out problems. Others I guess just like sad songs because it gives them an excuse to feel sad without having to think about their own personal issues that may be making them sad. Music is a good escape tool but even I find myself listening to sad songs when I want to cheer up.

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Chapter 5

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"I'm sure marble puts up a good fight too. It's dead, and it resents being hammered into life" -Henrik Ibsen (The Art of Being Human tenth edition, Richard Paul Janaro, Thelma C. Altshuler, Henrik Ibsen, Page 119, right margin quote two) 

1498–1499, The Pietà, Rome, Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni

Marble is beautiful but difficult to carve in marble. Both the sculptor and the stone resents being hammered. The sculptor has to physically hammer away at the marble, forcefully but carefully. The marble just exists as a stone and doesn't have any actual human emotions. Marble simply is what it is so it doesn't soften or change for the sculptor. I suppose this is the literal way of saying it 'resents being hammered into life' because it literally just wants to exist how it is.

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"Man is the measure of all things" -Protagoras (The Art of Being Human tenth edition, Richard Paul Janaro, Thelma C. Altshuler, Protagoras, Page 110, left margin quote two) 

14c, Liber ethicorum des Henricus de Alemannia, single sheet. Scena: Henricus de Alemannia con i suoi studenti, Italy, Laurentius de Voltonlina

When I hear this quote I am reminded of a mother telling their child that they are measuring their patience. Mankind pushes the world to its limit finding its boundaries and still toying with it. It is an issue of how destructive and murderous humans can be. We are the villains in the story of the natural world. Humans also explore and measure nature for good. We discover new things all the time and prove what is possible with what we have.

This can also be interpreted as literally mankind measuring things. Many always seem to feel the need to describe everything. We have a measurement for nearly everything from mathematics to even the Schmidt pain index we try to define our world. Things that people aren't able to describe are often chalked up to gods work.

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"I don't think it's very useful to open wide the door for new artists; the ones who break down the door are more interesting" -Paul Schroeder (The Art of Being Human tenth edition, Richard Paul Janaro, Thelma C. Altshuler, Paul Schroeder, Page 148, left margin quote one)

14-15c, De mulieribus claris/ peintresse Thamar. Woman painter, Author unknown

I personally agree with this quote. It is a dangerous thing to join something just because you are comfortable with it. I don't believe things should be handed to people it removes all sense of originality and effort on that person's part. To make a name for yourself you should go against the social norm and decide who you want to be rather than attempt to fit the mold. Art isn't about simply existing it is about everything and nothing at the same time.

No one can pave the road for art only set examples of what can be. Individualism is important in art, No one wants to see the same painting a thousand times over. People like to think and be in awe of art and it's up to the artist to make art like that. Pushing down social barriers for artistic statements can help you make a name for yourself.

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Chapter 4

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"If you would not be forgotten as soon as you are gone, either write things worth reading or do things worth writing" -Carson McCullers (The Art of Being Human tenth edition, Richard Paul Janaro, Thelma C. Altshuler, Carson McCullers, Page 70, left margin quote three) 

1860,  The Poet Chatterton,  John Joseph Barker:, Auckland Art Gallery

Once you write something it exists forever unlike us. This is especially true if you post it on the Internet or upload it to any sort of cloud.  It's good to strive to be so influential that you are written about as well. We are all able to discover scientific breakthroughs or make technological advancements for the rest of the world. Hopefully, you go down in written history as a hero and not a villain. Soldiers, Priests, Activists, Politicians will all be remembered forever in the common world, for the best or worst

When you write it doesn't have to be about something that's currently happening or philosophy you believe in. Journals and Diaries become popular to historians in the future to note how people in the past acted. So why not go ahead and be remembered in history as you are! They may even teach about you in a class one day. Even if its something like creative writing that serves no purpose but a creative outlet for you writing is an amazing pastime and can be enjoyed by others. We don't need stories about magic and fantasy themes but the public idolizes them. You can be an amazing author even if it is not popular in your time period.

Personally, I don't feel the need to be remembered in history I just want to be able to make an impact in some peoples lives. Which is fine not everyone fears being forgotten. Your name could live on by verbal stories portraying your kind or rude deeds. Being written about isn't the only way to stop being forgotten. But there is so much writing nowadays that being written about or writing may never be seen again. With technology, there is an abundance of information.

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"The poet speaks to all men of that other life of theirs that they have smothered and forgotten." -Dame Edith Sitwell (The Art of Being Human tenth edition, Richard Paul Janaro, Thelma C. Altshuler, Dame Edith Sitwell, Page 74, left margin quote two)

1887,  The young adventures, France, Charles Théodore ((Frère Bey) Frère

When we grow older we are taught that a lot of our normal wants and emotions are wrong and shameful. Whether that be from religion or social norms we change and forget how we use to act.

What the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche said about Christianity applies to this very well. He often spoke about how it was wrong that Christianity taught you that your natural emotions of envy were wrong and that you must suppress and ignore them. To be an obedient person meant to be mindlessly submissive to one that you hate. These are not our natural instincts and not how we naturally feel.

Poetry can take all that hidden emotion that you have bawled up and express it without shame. It's easy to break apart our beliefs at times and point out the flaws in them by simply using words and rhymes. Poetry sometimes makes us sit and evaluate what we are reading and like a lot of writing it shows us a new perspective.

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"The storyteller takes over to recount the event, and this is the one who survives, who outlives all the others. It is the storyteller in fact that makes us what we are." -Chinua Achebe (The Art of Being Human tenth edition, Richard Paul Janaro, Thelma C. Altshuler, Chinua Achebe, Page 92, left margin)

1849-1896ish, English: The storyteller, Ricardo Villegas Cordero

Stories are made from wonder and are remembered for generations. There are many families that pass down their own family or communities stories as well as making urban legends.The stories outlive those who tell them and carry the message or moral with them. Take fairy tails as an example. Originally tales like Cinderella and Snow White were just tales passed down from generations (and eventually written out by the Grimm brothers) and are still well known today. Although pieces of the stories were changed to fit a new generation and make it more digestible they still exist. The violence in both of the stories were lowered so they resonate with modern families they still have the same overall plot. In Cinderella, it is a mistreated stepdaughter who finds her prince charming at a ball. The main differences is small things like her stepsister's eyes not being picked out by birds or her stepmother being forced to wear burning shoes until she died as punishment. These tales long outlived those who first told them and the same can be said for many tales.

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Chapter 3

"When the best leaders work is done, the people say. 'We did it for ourselves'" -Lau-Tzu (The Art of Being Human tenth edition, Richard Paul Janaro, Thelma C. Altshuler, Lau-Tzu, Page 41, right margin quote two)

13th century, Author unknown, France

To lead isn't to dictate, it's important that a leader is aware of this and can properly balance the workload amongst a group. A good leader doesn't need to take the reigns and order his men around to do all the work, or on the contrary, do all the work himself. A good leader is able to assign people roles that they are most suited for and can train others to fill in the spots that are needed. Maintaining this proper balance gives workers a sense of pride and accomplishment making them believe they could have done it without the guiding hand of their leader. This statement still holds true today and I see it all the time in group activities, work, and even video games.

The 'sort of' opposite of this is also applicable in the real world. A good leader with bad followers won't get recognized for their good deeds as a leader but rather their faults. They will be blamed and ridiculed for every little human mistake they make. But that's just the cost of leading a pack of incompetent individuals.



"I've always preferred mythology to history. History is truth that becomes an illusion. Mythology is an illusion that becomes reality" -Jean Cocteau (The Art of Being Human tenth edition, Richard Paul Janaro, Thelma C. Altshuler, Jean Cocteau, Page 61, right margin quote two)

The Fable of Aráchnē- 1656, Las Hilanderas, Italy, Diego Velázquez

History can honestly be bland and mundane. It is easier to read about how a god or goddess was angry with an opposing king and caused a war between the two then two kings angry over land share. History can also be subjective. Many cultures are wiped out, ignored, and demonized so we are taught incorrectly about them. After all, history is written by the victors

The story of Arachnia in Greek mythology is a good example of how an illusion became a reality. The story is about a woman who was an amazing weaver. She weaved so well people would comment on how she was as talented as the gods. Athena, the goddess born lady, was a jealous one and challenged Arachnia to weave her a story of the gods' sins and secrets and to tell it true (in some tellings she challenges her to a sew-off). In the end, Arachnia sews a beautiful tapestry and completes her challenge revealing the secrets of the gods and proving she could weave as well as any. Athena became enraged and warped Arachnias body into a weaving one, a spider. Some believe this is how spiders were made, a beautiful illusion that is much more interesting than going over evolution and natural causes for the predator to actually exist. The story gives a nice and easy way to learn about the origin of the animal. This story is also where we get the word arachnid for spiders. So the story that holds no actual scientific merit still was influential enough to merit the actual study to be named after it.



"Dreams are private myths. Myths are public dreams" -Joseph Campbell (The Art of Being Human tenth edition, Richard Paul Janaro, Thelma C. Altshuler, Joseph Campbell, Page 43, right margin quote one)

18th century, Aurora and Titonus, Italy, Francesco de Mura

I like the idea that myths are public dreams because many myths readout like odd fever dreams. Many myths simply don't make sense and have many plot holes in them, others seem to be an odd way to rationalize reality (like Arachnia). When you dream it is your own little story. Whether you choose to believe in them or not is your choice. You may believe you are clairvoyant and that your dreams help you predict the future, that would be your own personal belief and myth. If you are to make your dreams public or beliefs on the matter public and they catch on then they may become a myth or a fairy tale, making your dream a public dream.

You could also do what I love to do and take your weird dreams and make them into stories. Even if you don't believe what you dream is true the creativity of the human mind is amazing and I love to see what people unconsciously make up.