Jason+Park+Aphorisms

=Three Aphorisms=

1. "A barking dog is often more useful than a sleeping lion." ~ Washington Irving

Washington Irving, the 19th century American author, essayist, biographer, and historian presents our first quote, which suggests that even if you have a reputation of doing something well, it doesn’t mean a thing if you don’t do anything about it.

In this case, the “dog” would be the active newbie that is working hard to become as renowned as the “lion,” which happens to be asleep, and thus, effectively useless.

Another interpretation would be that something is better than nothing. If your “lion” is asleep, might as well send out the “dog” that would do at least something.

For instance, if you didn’t bring your macbook, you might as well take out a piece of paper since something is better than nothing.

“A doctor is only a good doctor when he has killed one or two patients.” ~ Indian Proverb

This humorous aphorism from India might not make sense at first, but a second look suggests something else.

When does a doctor kill a patient? When a certified surgeon is drunk he often kills one. However since that only happens a few times, this quote suggests that a doctor that has practiced medicine for a long time probably made a mistake and killed one of his patients.

This is not just restricted to medicine. All jobs and professions could apply here. The quote basically means that you can only be certified as “good” only when you’ve made a mistake, since it’s assumed that you’ve been doing your job for a long time; long enough to make a simple mistake.

A good example would be the soccer striker. If, let’s say, Quervinho, our Brazilian striker with an eye for goal, scored two goals in every game, people would say “my, what a player. No wonder he is Brazilian.” However, let’s say that “every game” would only be just two games. One cannot just assume a player is good if he played two amazing games. Let’s say Quervinho continued his fine form until the end of a season, where he plays 23 great games out of 35. Now, people can safely assume that not only is Quervinho human, but he is a great player if he plays well roughly 2 games out of 3.

3. “Anything that doesn't kill you will make you stronger.” Nietzsche Popularized by modern-day rapper Kanye West, 19th century philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche suggests that if it doesn’t kill you, it will only make you stronger. One must note that this quote cannot be taken literally. If you receive severe radiation poisoning from a chem lab gone wrong, not only would you probably be bedridden for the rest of your life, but the chances of a melanoma on your body are high as well, which signifies a long and painful death. Nietzsche probably had the same thing in his mind when he decided to share his quote with the world. However, it can be inferred that he does not mean this aphorism to be literal in a physical sense, but more of a psychological aspect. If you were in a terrible bicycling accident and you became a paraplegic, physically you’d be unable to walk and thus become “weaker.” However, mentally, you’d realize more to life than just walking, and learn to adjust to your new handicap. In a way, you’d become “stronger.” However, I’d still want to keep my legs.