The cruel accidents of birth and chronology.
What good is immortality compared to 346 consecutive weeks on the New York Times trade paperback bestseller list?
If he could have somehow delayed his birth by about 350 years, Blaise Pascal would be burning small bushels of sage while hanging beaded curtains in a sun-drenched beachside villa amassing millions of followers on Instagram while administrating a massive self-help multi-level marketing empire in Santa Monica, California.
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| Blaise Pascal |
If he could have somehow delayed his birth by about 350 years, Blaise Pascal would be burning small bushels of sage while hanging beaded curtains in a sun-drenched beachside villa amassing millions of followers on Instagram while administrating a massive self-help multi-level marketing empire in Santa Monica, California.
He would appear on Oprah, dance with Ellen and preside over weekend motivational/actualization retreats in Ojai and Sedona.
He would sunbathe with celebrities, deliver inspiring Ted Talks to the titans of industry and be the subject of hagiographic documentaries on Netflix and the Sundance Channel.
He would give up his dusty perch on the philosophy shelf at the Strand and take his proper place in Barnes and Noble's Christmas vitrine with works with updated titles like "Living and Doing," "Secrets and Tips for the Successful Executive Life," and Clearing Possibilities Toward Powerful Awesomeness."
“Let each of us examine his thoughts; he will find them wholly concerned with the past or the future. We almost never think of the present, and if we do think of it, it is only to see what light is throws on our plans for the future. The present is never our end. The past and the present are our means, the future alone our end. Thus we never actually live, but hope to live, and since we are always planning how to be happy, it is inevitable that we should never be so.”
But alas, Blaise Pascal was born in 1623, long before one could count on a critical mass of disaffected middle-aged professionals whose considerable disposable income and active repertory of insignificant grievances could catapult a crackpot into a mass-market media prophet.
Poor Blaise who said it all four centuries ago, watching from the heavens as snake oil mediocrities like Prem Morran turn his subtle French phrases into Facebook aphorisms, t-shirts and tweets.
"C'est une maladie naturelle à l'homme de croire qu'il possède la vérité"
Poor Blaise who said it all four centuries ago, watching from the heavens as snake oil mediocrities like Prem Morran turn his subtle French phrases into Facebook aphorisms, t-shirts and tweets.
