The good king doesn’t do much, and what he does do, he does quietly. It seems to his subjects that while nothing is done, nothing remains undone.
Tag Archives: benevolence
The secret
Which of these is worse?
- Eating meat. (Actually, eating anything that has a face.)
- Drinking alcohol.
- Compulsive sexual practices.
- Accepting awards for good deeds.
Yes, I agree. Number 4.
Listen, you ring-kisser: There are no saints. But if there were, Bill Wilson would be one. He couldn’t accept awards. It was against his religion.
Secrecy is the secret.
Grinning for the camera
We ought not to accept awards for doing what we want. Genuflecting before some eminence turns us into schoolboys. If an award cannot be avoided, we must in the event be at least as graceless and discomBobulated as a certain songwriter. Honours are paltry, offered Keith Richards, displaying a savant’s gift for the perfect word.
Secret
A man should keep ten percent to himself—not for himself, to himself. The portion he keeps to himself is his charitable and philanthropic activity. This should not be disclosed. Benevolence without secrecy is self-promotion. Do not let the left hand know what the right hand is doing.
Secret and sacred are intimates. Some men seem instinctively to know that secrecy is a virtue. George Michael knew it.
In the closet
The Tao that can be told is not the Tao.
Of the sacred, nothing may be said. The sacred is secret. “Whereof we do not know, thereof we may not speak.”
Profane comes from pro fanum, which means on the temple porch.
If a man is religious, no one should know it.
Jesus: Pray in a closet.
Joel Goldsmith says the universal church has three pillars: benevolence, secrecy, and a silent inquiry into the nature of God. It has no membership roll. It cannot be joined.
Men's Work 