GammaGlobulin

The death of Philip Roth this week led to near instantaneous debate about which of his books was his best. There was the transgressive Roth; the epic, historical Roth; the personal, memoiristic Roth; the postmodernist playful Roth. His genius has been an inspiration and a prod to a few generations of writers now. And it usually comes down to the individual book, that one book, which first opened their mouths in awe.

In that spirit, we asked a number of great, contemporary novelists, critics and historians, to make their own case for Roth’s greatest book.

I just wish that someone would post just one well-crafted paragraph to prove my point that there is one writer here worth his or her salt.

 

I know you guys all have a secret wish that you will, some day, be in Sweden, and bow down to the Nobel committee.

 

I know that this is your secret wish.

4 minutes ago, RubbaJohnny said:

No way to happiness, happiness is the way.

 

If like Moses/משה רבנו you seek advice keep taking the tablets.

My view is that taking too many tablets, with a glass of water, will not solve your problem.

Don't take too many happy tablets, is my best advice to you.

Valium can only lead you to ruin.

 

Same with belief in things that are not science-based.

 

Far better that you study the chemistry of the Sun.

 

  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun#:~:text=The Sun is composed primarily,Sun in the photosphere%2C respectively.&text=Since the Sun formed%2C the,involved fusing hydrogen into helium.

 

Without the Sun, there would be no Hebrew.

 

 

1 hour ago, KarenBravo said:

Chasing happiness dooms you to failure. True happiness is ephemeral and insubstantial.

Chase contentedness instead. You might even find some happiness there.

There is no point in chasing happiness, as you say.

Doing so can only lead to unhappiness and dissatisfaction in life.

 

Instead, we must chase something else.

 

 

1 hour ago, Nyonya said:

True happiness is a loving wife whom always supports you and being beside you whether no matter what happens be it misfortune, poverty or sick health. Being borned in a blessed family although poor is truly what money cannot buy???? As for material wealth really helps and having lots of money is also important to buy luxurious convenience but without the above blessings, it's really a lonely sad world.

Yes.

This world would be a sad world, without the things you mention.

 

In fact, you are so correct: A loving wife, as long as you also have a minimal about of money, is all you need.

 

In addition, you might need a few books.

And, you might need great music, too.

 

 

 

What I am saying is that:

 

Some have what it takes.

Some are just pretenders who wish they could write beautifully.

 

Some are guys who would die just in order to write one single beautiful sentence in their life, like Hemingway.

 

I have read a few good paragraphs here...  Because, there are good writers here.

When I read a good writer, then I know one.

 

BUT, JUST WISHING TO BECOME a writer of great paragraphs does not make one, one.

This is a gift.

 

This is just a gift.

We know beauty when we see it.

 

The greatest paragraph I have ever seen was written by Philip Roth.

There are a few darned FINE writers here. They can write rings around us, if they deigned to do so.  But, mostly, they just lurk and laugh at our inadequate strivings, as we try to write a decent paragraph.

There are quite a few amazing writers on this forum. I know this.

42 minutes ago, ChrisP24 said:

People could write (and many have written) a philosophical treatise on this subject.  For me, my simplest take on the subject is that happiness is a mindset, and happy people are those who, through a process of self-discovery and self-awareness, have developed a habit over time of being in that mindset.  Yes there will be ups and downs but happy people don't let the downs rule them.

 

You say that "Many of you have come to Thailand seeking this secret happiness, yet few have ever found it."  To that, I say that the happy expats are those who brought their happiness with them.  Those running from something or running to something are too often deceiving/misdirecting themselves.

 

As for women, my past relationships have been almost all good ones, and although those relationships of course come to an end one way or another, having had them, and having conducted myself in a way where I have few regrets, is a source of comfort and joy for me still.

 

I'll end with a quote from Yul Brynner:   “We are born alone, we live alone, we die alone. Everything in-between is a gift. ”

 

 

Few people, here, would put so much time into any reply, as you have done.

 

And so, I happen to know, there are people here who are able to craft a few important comments.

 

REALLY NICE thoughtful post of yours, and not unexpected.

 

Nice to see your post, and far better than mine.

 

Nice.

 

 

8 minutes ago, ChrisP24 said:

People could write (and many have written) a philosophical treatise on this subject.  For me, my simplest take on the subject is that happiness is a mindset, and happy people are those who, through a process of self-discovery and self-awareness, have developed a habit over time of being in that mindset.  Yes there will be ups and downs but happy people don't let the downs rule them.

 

You say that "Many of you have come to Thailand seeking this secret happiness, yet few have ever found it."  To that, I say that the happy expats are those who brought their happiness with them.  Those running from something or running to something are too often deceiving/misdirecting themselves.

 

As for women, my past relationships have been almost all good ones, and although those relationships of course come to an end one way or another, having had them, and having conducted myself in a way where I have few regrets, is a source of comfort and joy for me still.

 

I'll end with a quote from Yul Brynner:   “We are born alone, we live alone, we die alone. Everything in-between is a gift. ”

 

 

" the happy expats are those who brought their happiness with them"

 

By the way, speaking of Yul Brynner...  I LOVE his watch...

 

Yul Brynner loved the Cartier watch.  Maybe you know.

 

Nice post of yours. (I cannot find Yul Brynner with his Cartier watch in Google. But, trust me, he loved Cartier.)

 

Cartier Santos:  Yul Brynner loved this watch.

 

 

Take care!

 

Happiness cannot be found in a watch, of course.

 

Yet, this watch is beautiful.

 

Happiness can only be found in helping others...

Trite but true.

 

Take care.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

w960.webp

By the way... I was parenthetically speaking for a specific woman, a friend of mine, who did herculean things to be both a great mother and a wonderful person.

I am not joking, in any way.

 

My Dear Fellows,

 

Can anyone here tell me the secret to happiness?

 

Many of you have come to Thailand seeking this secret happiness, yet few have ever found it.

 

Some, indeed, have found happiness on farmland, and others have found happiness at a university, and still others have found happiness in a coffeeshop. But, only too few of you.

 

I wonder, just how you might define HAPPINESS?

 

Happiness is a nebulous thing, which most of us are unable to define, simply because when we attain it, happiness ceases to become so very happy, after being so minutely scrutinized. Happiness is never long-lasting, as we know.

 

For example, I have known a few women, just as a few of my women friends have known a few men. And, in the end, there is always a great letdown.  This is not happiness, obviously.

 

And so, I wonder, are all of us basically destined to never experience true happiness in this life?

 

NO!!!!

 

In my opinion, living where we are living, in this blessed place, we should be able to attain happiness, if only we are very careful in our choices.

 

I do believe that there are quite a few people on this miraculous forum who have achieved happiness. Yet, rarely do they explain, in detail, the ways they have achieved their happiness.

 

Personally, I can tell you that I rarely achieve the feeling of happiness, except for very minor spurts of happiness, spurts which rarely last very long.

 

And, I also do not believe that happiness can be achieved by meeting a woman (or a man). True happiness must originate from within.

 

I happen to love women. And, I just love women not exclusively from a sexual perspective.  I mean.  I LOVE women.  I love watching women knit socks and scarfs, for example, and listening to them gab about family related issues, and other things, for example.

 

Now, here I am in Thailand. I am now here in Thailand, and I am blessed. Yet, I wonder why I am not feeling as happy as I should, just being as lucky as I know that I am.

 

Maybe, the reason is that I know that I am missing something, still, such as a good woman who knows how to care for me, and to knit socks for me.

Truly, I LOVE women, but I also RESPECT women. Do you think I am joking?  NO!!!!!

 

Living with Thai women, as well as other women, just makes me feel…SO happy.

 

I know that you feel just as do I.

 

Let’s all glory in the blessing of womanhood.

 

Where would we be without the miraculous weaker sex, which is actually the strongest of all.

 

Regards,

Gamma

 

NOTE: Wow, Man…..  I REALLY do love women, and womanhood.  So true, my friends.

 

Let us all be very thankful.

Kraft Theatre 

 

While dreaming of Kraft Cheese 

4 hours ago, chickenslegs said:

Mac

Autocratic

1 minute ago, AlexRich said:

It took me a while to realise that corporations and private companies just use you, and dispose of you when they don’t need you anymore. Some people get lucky, like early employees of Google or Facebook, who get to cash in options and be financially independent. Most people give the best years to people who don’t appreciate it. The best plan is to get off the hamster wheel early and work for yourself.

You sound a bit like Noam Chomsky. 

 

Corporations are not humans. 

 

I am sure that most of us humans agree with what you have stated. 

 

The point is that you sell your life for a pittance, and become the slave to capitalism. And when it's all over, you have just too little to show for your devotion to the machine. 

 

All you got left... Wham, Bam, Thank you Ma'am. 

 

You work your fingers to the bone, and then finally realise that you have frittered away your precious life, working for the Man. 

 

You finally realise that you have unwittingly been a slave. 

 

And, you feel regret. 

 

But, now it's too late. 

 

 

 

 

No. 

 

I feel great nostalgia for the original name. 

 

A rose is a rose. 

 

Also, time does not stand still. 

 

I will never be able to recapture my youth, a time when I first enjoyed TV, under its real name. 

My Dear Friends... 

 

I know that very few people posting here are narcissists. 

 

On the contrary, my inkling is that people here are pussycats, and very kind people who are ultimately caring of others. 

 

If this were not so, then few of us would remain here, most assuredly. 

 

I once mistakenly believed that the Farang Pub was a place where the dregs of the dregs came to die, just due to lack of acceptance on any other part of this great forum. 

 

No longer. 

 

No. Instead, what I believe is that people who post here are the cream of the cream. 

 

In fact, the least likely place you might find a narcissist is in this Pub. 

 

I feel so much nostalgia for the Pub, as it once was. I know that you do, as well. 

 

Yet, I also feel such optimism for the Pub's recent positive transformation, becoming less narcissistic in tone, and far more nurturing of new writers expressing inclusiveness, rather than exclusivity. 

 

We arrive here at the Pub due to our shared love of Thailand. Is this not true? 

 

Also, I must tell you that... Now that this forum has become a Kinder and Gentler place, I am no longer embarrassed to tell people that I love ASEAN Now. 

 

This forum is surely becoming BETTER, and the contributors less narcissistic. 

 

It is not fun to post stupid comments, in the long term. 

 

Eventually, contributors must grow up to become adults. 

 

Eventually. 

 

 

 

 

One of the surest cures for narcism is to be taken into the public square and put in stocks. 

 

When we are pilloried in public for minor wrong thinking, then we become more tolerant of others. 

 

Being put in stocks helps us to improve, and to become kinder and gentler people. 

On 8/22/2021 at 8:00 PM, Gottfrid said:

Thanks Gamma! Nice to know we have something like a pastor or priest here. I will get back to you for my next confession.

Confession is good for the soul. 

 

Confession, publicly, is most meaningful. 

 

Be honest in your confession. 

 

I did not ask Monica to smoke the cigar. She did it out of love for me. 

On 8/23/2021 at 7:25 AM, thaibeachlovers said:

I became a nurse to "help" others. Biggest mistake of my life apart from getting married. Years of bullying managers, abusive patients/ relatives, treated like dirt by senior nurses, and few thanks from the people I nursed. I only stayed with it because I got to travel the world with it. So few want to be nurses now that countries have to import them. The pay was better overseas too.

 

I feel loads better now I don't have to go and do "good" for others anymore.

 

PS. To those reading this, next time in hospital, please remember to say thank you to the people that actually looked after you, and it wasn't the Drs; it was the nurses and the auxiliaries. They appreciate being recognised for what they did for you.

There is NOT DOUBT that I will never forget the wonderful nurses who cared for me while in hospital.

No need to remind me.

There is not a week that goes by that I do not clearly recall and give thanks for some great nurses that saved my life.

 

Thank you!

 

Note:  All my nurses were female. However, when one is really ill and in pain, then the gender of one's nurse matters not at all.  Thank you!

Obviously, this new morning is transpiring into another STORMY MONDAY.....on a Thursday at Royal Albert Hall.

 

 

Ginger Baker is his same old self.

Man, I really feel sorry for him.

He got the short end of his drumstick.

35 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

If that's about euthanasia IMO it shouldn't be discussed on this forum.

I've changed my post as I thought you were discussing a normal death, which has been discussed on the God thread.

I have never broached the topic of "death" on this forum.

Death does not interest me, unless it might be death for most mosquitoes, which might not be a bad thing.

However, death to all mosquitoes could be a bad thing, since the end of mosquitoes might have unintended consequences.

Far better to just say, "Death to malaria and all other illnesses for which mosquitoes are a vector".

So, let's keep mosquitoes, but only the benign kind.

 

Death to irrational thinking, is good, in most cases.

Except, in some cases, irrational thinking can lead to positive breakthroughs.

 

So, probably, death in most cases, is still not a good thing.

Except, death can be good when death applies to humans.

Without death, then where would we be?

 

Just think about it:  Without death, then Evolution would not work.

 

Therefore, we should not second-guess any god who brought death into this world.

 

Evolution created us.

Without death, Evolution would not work.

 

I could go on, and on, and on.....

 

6 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Is that "our" in the royal sense, like "we" or do you refer to "our" as referring to those you address?

To be sure, sometimes death is not something to fear, but a friend assisting us to the other side.

Definitely NOT in the sense you mentioned.

 

Also, concerning your second question:  I neither advocate for it nor oppose it. Assistance, as you say, should be freely given to those who most need it. AND, those who need it...REALLY DO NEED this kind of help.

 

This is a different topic, one which I care much about, but not the topic at hand.

I agree with what I think you are suggesting.

 

Very important topic, and one which I think will never be discussed in this forum.