Gathering Place
C. Ikehara
Could moderation lead
to even better things?When I read columnist Richard Borreca's "Moderation was the ticket for Lingle, Case" (Insight, Aug. 24), I was reminded of how underrated, overlooked and neglected that virtue has become.
It is not even included among the 102 "Great Ideas" (e.g., "truth," "beauty," "justice") that Mortimer Adler distilled from the multivolume "Great Books of the Western World," which Encyclopedia Britannica published in 1952.
Am I the only one who finds that omission strange since many literary classics of the West extol the virtues of moderation? Considering that GBWW includes Shakespeare, Michel de Montaigne and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe as authors, how could moderation have been left out as a great idea?
>> "Be moderate, be moderate." (from Shakespeare's "Troilus and Cressida")Isn't "maturity" another value that is being taken for granted these days? I consider it to be an outgrowth of moderation. It also is not included among GBWW's great ideas, even though Jonathan Swift and Sigmund Freud are included as authors:>> "All activities beyond the ordinary limits are subject to some sinister interpretation," and
>> "I love temperate and moderate natures." (Montaigne's "Essays")
>> "True happiness springs from moderation." (Goethe's "Die naturliche Tochter")
>> "The latter part of a wise man's life is taken up in curing the follies, prejudices, and false opinions he had contracted in the former." (from Swift's "Thoughts on Various Subjects")When it comes to other desirable leadership qualities, shouldn't "rationality" be up there with moderation and maturity? Isn't one of the tasks of a leader to solve problems by analyzing them? Not only is rationality missing among the 102 "Great Ideas," but nothing by the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche is included in GBWW, which I find strange considering:>> "(Maturity is) the ability to postpone gratification." (Freud)
>> "Rational thought is interpretation according to a scheme which we cannot escape." (from Nietzsche's "Notes")Perhaps the 21st century will see a new breed of leaders who are less into the adrenaline rush of dynamism and power and more inclined to expend their energies clearly assessing reality in an attempt to meet the many challenges and problems that the future is sure to provide. Let's hope that we are entering an era where cooler heads will prevail over the drama, mania and even hysteria that I hope will become things of the past when it comes to effective and meaningful political leadership.Can we soon look forward to more articles by Mr. Borreca, not only praising our leaders for their continued moderation but also lauding them for their mature judgment and rational decision-making? In these times, couldn't we use a dose of good news?
Make mine a double dose.
C. Ikehara, who is retired, lives on Oahu.
