In his inaugural address, the new President Obama has just included curiosity in his list of saving American values. How refreshing and delightful. We have endured so many years of defensive and suspicious leadership. We have all but forgotten that our country was once strong in its curiosity about the world, its people and its horizons.
From the text of the speech:
Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends -- hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism -- these things are old. These things are true.
"Perge modo et qua te ducit via dirige gressum," said Venus to Aeneas.
4 comments:
Perhaps "curiosity" was code?
Code for: Don't glorify wilful ignorance.
Code for: No more parochialism.
There is a world outside of Crawford, Wasilla and Kennebunkport. Learn from the people of that world, before you judge them as enemies, or inferiors. Or you simply dismiss them as irrelevant.
It takes a lifetime of disciplined curiosity, to equip one with wisdom.
You cannot achieve it with a "quick study".
That's how I decode "curiosity". What say you?
I am so excited to have a president who places reason, rationality and reality above rhetoric, religion and reactions.
Full sentences, words pronounced correctly and of more than one syllable, thoughts coherently developed, literacy--OMG! I'd forgotten that a president could speak this way. I'm verklempt! Talk amongst yourselves . . .
I'm with Will on this one- I'm going to have to totally retrain myself as to how to watch the news and not automatically start hissing the moment an announcer says "Today the President...."
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