"Seek ye diligently and teach one another words of wisdom;
yea, seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom;
seek learning, even by study and also by faith."
Doctrine and Covenants 88:118

"And the gatherer sought to find pleasing words, worthy writings, words of Truth."
Ecclesiastes 12:10



Tuesday, August 23, 2016

Work and Fate

"But it was not really true that Okonkwo's palm-kernals had been cracked for him by a benevolent spirit.  He had cracked them himself.  Anyone who knew his grim struggle against poverty and misfortune could not say he had been lucky.  If ever a man deserved his success, that man was Okonkwo.  At an early age he had achieved fame as the greatest wrestler in all the land.  That was not luck.  At the most one could say that his chi or personal god was good.  But the Igbo people have a proverb that when a man says yes his chi says yes also.  Okonkwo said yes very strongly; so his chi agreed."

Chinua Achebe
Things Fall Apart

Chi here approximates the concept of "genius" in Roman thought and James Hillman's Daimon.

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