I like a little bit of everything, the small negates the great and I turn out to be pretty average I guess...
Thank you for posting, good to see you still here! I'll wait a bit and see if we get any more responses...
Of course! I haven't really said anything yet, really. And I'm always here, watching, I just take cover when things get a little too turbulent. Destructive without being constructive. I think I've read several quotes from her that I have liked, but this one I don't get. I've talked to lot's of people about more or less complicated ideas in both great and small discussions. Lot's of people are curious but a lot of us don't have the capacity formulate and handle complicated ideas. I can sort of see where she's coming from with small minds discussing people, even though I find the statement overly dismissive, but I don't think discussing ideas signifies greatness in any way. I'm looking forward to seeing why you brought this up.
It is a quote that pisses people off when you quote it as they are ranting on Geraldo in the Baltimore riots...
That was the short answer....the longer answer is...I've got no time for hollywood gossip or star gazing (at popular people, celestial bodies are another matter). Events, yeah I contemplate events and the root cause of the problem that cause the symptom we describe as an event. Ideas? That is why I have been here for ten years...tis one of the calmest places to discuss ideas with good people...
I am generally in agreement with Mz Roosevelt, but then again, 'small minds' have their opinions on events and ideas too. If I was being smart-arse, I'd wonder whether Eleanor Roosevelt said that because of the criticism she no doubt received, being into women's rights, civil rights, speaking on her husband's behalf, etc., etc. I'm sure she must have annoyed a lot of people. (In defending Catholicism, I could say the same thing.) Don't know much about her. The one thing I do is when she met the black man who built a plane, taught himself to fly, then flew east-to-west across America. She was touring with her husband to win the black vote in support of the war. He offered to take her up for a spin. Everyone laughed politely and said 'No!'. She said yes. I can only wonder at what went through a few minds as the First Lady flew off into the wild blue yonder, alone in a plane with a self-taught black man at the controls. Is it people who bring ideas to life, or do ideas animate people ... or is that a chicken/egg, nature/nurture type of thing?
Excellent response, Thomas! Thank you! I'll wait a bit more and see what else is added before I bring in my two cents.
I always get in trouble for correcting mythology...and the parts I don't know are whether he ever built his own plane ....but the parts I do know is he did teach himself to fly, but that was in a plane he bought, (the flying club wouldn't let a black man in) and he was the first black man to get a pilot license, was hired by our gov't to flight train the Tuskegee Airmen, a division of black airman...and he flew her in a military plane, that the flight was planned before her arrival and was a photo op to allow this black division into the war. All still quite the big deal....
Agree, and I'd like to add that this quote is by definition I suppose....a great generalization. 'great minds' do also discuss people...
The quote sounds contrived. She was a great activist politician who never missed a chance at self promotion. Maybe this post now becomes a threadbare tangent but it should be good for a chuckle - She was a very quotable, intelligent, outspoken and entertaining woman politician/activist. A trail blazer for sure. Excuse the pun but she could be a little edgy for the times. Another quote (paraphrased) attributed to her: 'I once had a rose named after me. I was really pleased until I read the description. It said, no good in bed but does well up against the wall.'
For me, her meaning was not in the words she spoke. It was the meaning between the words. Obviously at some point in time, everyone discusses all three: ideas, events, people. That is a given. But from what perspective do people discuss these things. People who perceive the world as about other people perceive ideas and events through the lens of 'people'. And so forth. It is not a matter of superior versus inferior. Rather it is a matter of the focus a person brings to life. People who view the world primarily though ideas don't have time and could not care less about the Kardashians. People who view the world primarily through people cannot get enough of the Kardashians, and that is the limit of their philosophical development.
In wondering what context she said it....I find it disputed as to whether she was the originator or a repeater...or even said it...
Excellent responses so far! Maybe I should start threads and just coach from the sidelines more often... Any more?
I think Eleanor Roosevelt's statement is very dependent on what constitutes great, average and small minds. Without knowing the context in which she spoke it's difficult to say. Be that as it may, I don't think the notion of what is being discussed, be it an idea, event or people, is a good indication of great, average or small minds. The real question for me is, when a great mind speaks to an average mind and a small mind joins in, do any of them know who is who and does it matter? After all, even a small mind can have a great idea and vice-versa.
Exactly and the point I didn't expound upon when I said it was a generalization is the judgmental and snobbish tenor to the quote.
Juan, will you be grading our mind based on this? Because I really like ideas and people are stupid...
