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: Honor ?????????? : : hon-or n. 1. Consideration due or paid, as to worth; respectful regard. 2. Any outward token of such feeling, such as college distinctions. 3. A nice sense of what is right. 4. That to which respect is due; a cause of esteem ........... Well.... so much for what Funk + Wagnalls has to say about what honor is ......... LOL..LOL.. : Now......... Ruilan has stated His feelings and ideas about honor, and has before..... Is the *word * honor over used at times ??? YES..... Is the concept of just what honor * is * the same for each of us..????? NO.... Will everyone ever agree about everything ??? LOL...LOL... NO bloody way !!!!! LOL...... Is honor some form of * Holy Grail * ???? Well, if you are talking about a drinking vessel, NO.......... If you are talking about a symbol ...One that is meant to remind us that there are ideals to be remembered. .... goals to be reached for ..... concepts to strive to follow no matter the cost ........and also a thing that can be lost...... lost just like the Holy Grail ..... because those that are its guardians become impure and are not fit to be entrusted with its care and safety....... Then YES.... : Honor is not the *end all * of our goals.... It is but one of the traits that Most of us TRY to learn, and display in our lives..... RT, and VT.... We speak of codes often.... Honor is but one of traits or ideals that are encompassed in the codes..... Honor.... Loyalty...... Trust ...... Courage ....... Compassion.... The list goes on, and on...... Is any one of these traits any more important than another ???? Who can say ??? For Me, it is a blending..... or combination of all of these.....and MORE ..... that makes each person who, and what they are........ : To say that honor is little more than a set of ideas or rules that some choose to obey so that others will also obey them and thus they will have a common ground to interact within, seems a bit off hand or simplistic to Me.... LOL.. But then, I am sure that many of My ideas may seem such to others.... : Idealism !!!! Naive ???? Infantile ???? Unrealistic ???? ...... Ideals and dreams of reaching them, are what make the human animal lift itself from the mud and butchery of barbarism and bring us closer to * perfection * ....... Not that such can be fully reached..... but it can be sought...... Is it not better to strive, and come as close as possible........rather than to have never tried ????? Naive. ? If after all these years of life.... after all the things I have heard, seen, done ...... to still think that such traits as honor mean something.... and are worth striving for.... then I guess some would brand me naive........ I have been called worse....LOL....LOL..... Infantile ? If by this it is meant that being taught at an early age that a mans honor is one of his most valued possessions..... that holding onto this belief even after learning that others may not hold the trait as dearly .....to learn as a youth that those that were your leaders only pay lip service to the ideal of honor..... but still refuse to give up your own ideals...... and hold them for years still....... then once again, I guess My thinking might be called infantile..... Something I have not been accused of for quite some time......LOL..... Unrealistic ? Perhaps...... But what then IS realistic ???? To feel that * hope springs eternal * is not possible ??? To think that by trying to show others such concepts are worth keeping, and following is wrong ??? To simply give up, and no longer dream ???? No... I think not....... : Does Tarl Cabot/Bosk throughout all the books show us that there are few ideals that are ABSOLUTE .....Yes..... His story shows that just as in our real life, We grow, and change...... we learn from our mistakes...... and if we don’t, we deserve to fall pray to those that would use our weaknesses against us..... In the books Tarl does seem to go from idealist......to pragmatic..... and then to a sort of blend of both ....The one thing that I saw in Tarls constant struggle in the books is that He, like ANYBODY else found that a person NEVER knows how much they have to lose until they do end up losing it...... Honor........ Trust....... Health......... Love .......... Is all taken for granted to an extent until it is torn away from a person......or given away........ and the road to recovering any of these and more, is a long and hard journey..... never done easily ........ if ever completed............ : Is honor some kind of shield to hide behind ????? Is honor some balm or medicine to be applied to wounds in an attempt to sooth their pain ??? Is honor some force or ponderous presence ready to crush those that don’t believe in it under its heel ??? HELL NO !!!!!!!!!! : BUT , is honor such an outdated or misunderstood concept that it can be brushed aside with a glib comment, or condescending remark about it not being as important to some as it is to others ?????? Is it to be ignored because it is not fashionable ????? Can we turn our backs on it, and only speak of it when it is convenient or trendy to do so.????????? Once again........ HELL NO !!!!!!!!!!!! : Perfection ???? I think not..... We human animals tend to have high and mighty concepts of just how good, or smart, or powerful we are......LOL...LOL... But who can not look inwardly.... striping away the layer after layer of armour and camouflage that we shield ourselves from others with, to see that inside we are after all just that... animals...... with all the base thoughts, and selfish feelings of any other animal...... But in our defence, I offer this...... We do strive to reach for higher ideals..... We struggle with those selfish ways, and at times overcome them ........ We turn our backs on the base or animal feelings and ascend to a higher plane..... We learn to pity others....... to have compassion for those we find needing and deserving it....... We learn that at times, the needs of the many, out way the needs of the few....... Yes, we are still animals......and killers...... But we say “ Today...I choose NOT to kill..... but to help.... or love....... “ We are not perfect......that is a dream ...... But is perfection needed to strive for higher ideals ???? Again, I think not..... For Myself..... I believe the old saying that “ Virtue is its own reward “ but then again so is Courage...... Compassion.... .. Loyalty......... Love.......... and even the topic of this matter......Honor !!!!!! : I have never tried to force others to think the exact same way about anything I do...... I have offered My personal thoughts about MANY subjects, Have spoken out when something seemed wrong, or incorrect ...and I am sure that I will do so again........ But can we really believe that there is nothing human in the concept of perfection....???? Or at least the striving to attain a higher plain ..... perhaps a bit closer to that ultimate goal ?????? Ender of dreams ??? Killer of possibilities ???? A thing or idea to be feared or shunned ???? WHY ???? The ideas, and ideals spoken of in this letter are all human concepts.... We thought them up...... We gave them life..... We are their creators..... Yet it seems that because in there pure form they seem unattainable, We then should blame them for Our own weaknesses ????? Because we may be too small, or unwilling to follow them, it is THEY that are at fault, and not US ??????? No..... We may never be able to attain a * perfect * level of understanding, or * perfect * example of these pure concepts........ But does that mean we should never TRY ????? ..... “ It is better to light just one candle..... than to curse the darkness..... “ And just so, it is better to try our best to live up to these ideals .... even though we may fail at times... rather then to never try, and there by fall by the way side.... : : So saying.... Don Quixote.. straps on His rusty armour.......aided by His trusted servant, Sancho ....... mounts His donkey....... grasps His lance, and drops the visor of His helmet into place..... and trots off to tilt away at all those windmills..... Just as He has done soo many times before....... and just as He will do again.......and again........ Not knowing , or caring how foolish some may find Him...... But secure in His own beliefs...... As sure He is right ... as others are that He is wrong....... One man.... One DREAM ????? : Rollo~the~Ax

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