I always thought that was Aleister Crowley’s.
I thought it was Anton LeVay’s (I’ll gratefully accept correction). AIUI, the Witches’ Creed is prefaced with the qualifier an it harm no one…
The Witches Creed? Never heard the Law of Thelema called that before.
That is Crowley’s Law of Thelema, not the Wiccan Rede, which is ‘An it harm none, do as ye will’.
[Edit - ninja’d. That’s what I get for posting without preview after my internet’s gone out for a half an hour. Oops.]
That is a quality correction. I owe you guys a beer.
Note, too, that “do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law” is also the Toddler’s Creed and the Sociopath’s Creed.
And by virtue of a Venn diagram, it is also the creed of the occupant of the Oval Office.
Crowley ? It’s Rabelais !
In support of our dear old Uncle Al, the meaning of the phrase is to divine your true will as one of our glorious race of humanity, and don’t be afraid to carry it out. A dumbed down version would be “Gee, I like dogs…maybe I’ll go to veterinary school so I can keep them safe and heathy!”
It does NOT mean “Do whatever the fuck you want the second you want to do it.”
Text me your address. I’ll mail you a bill…
I’ve decided I wilt not be doing that.
That was easy to get out of. Time to get a real estate license!
If the supreme court rules:
- that Congress shouldn’t get Trumps returns because even though there is a demonstrable legislative reason for wanting the returns, the court infers that Congresses motives are purely partisan,
and
- the citizenship question is OK because despite the fact there is clear evidence that it was added for partisan reasons, the administration can come up with an implausible film of a non-partisan justification.
Then it will be clear that the fix is in.
I just drove by a guy standing on the corner, holding a sign that said on one side “ Shame on Trump supporters”, and on the other “Honk to impeach the moron”.
Of course this was in California so he’s preaching to the choir, but you got to admire his enthusiasm.
Trump, in his ABC interview, claims to have read the Mueller report.
The Mueller report must be Trump’s least favorite book, and yet he’s read it! Which is ironic, because his favorite book is Bonfire of the Vanities, and he hasn’t read it.
I think people should line Fifth Avenue in New York with signs reading, “Come on, you bastard, SHOOT ME!”
Devin Nunes is from California. And there is that shithead in San Diego, whose name escapes me, who ran afoul of campaign finance laws with his ridiculous movie stunts. Every state has a mix of MAGAts and people.
Duncan Hunter. His wife just accepted a plea deal and admitted that they misused campaign funds to support their lavish lifestyle. She may testify against him.
Well, of course people can interpret words in any way they like, but surely it matters when the majority of people interpret them in a particular way.
If most people interpret the adage and the “True Will” concept to have more to do with pleasing oneself/hedonism/indifference to others, than with career advice, then that’s surely the fault of the person who came up with (or publicized) the adage.
It’s not a matter of translation—Crowley was writing in English. If he’d wanted to say ‘be sure you find and follow your true calling in life,’ then he could have said that. But he didn’t.
(Meh–it’s a sidetrack. People are always going to interpret particular philosophies in a positive way if they happen to like those philosophies.
(Trump is still a sociopathic toddler, either way.)
Wow. I am just reading this book again. So fucking good.
The snippet of conversation linked to (second link) was a complete word salad (without dressing).
BTW, Bonfire of the Vanities is a fabulous book and the sort of book thump would love if he were capable of reading/comprehending anything longer than a tweet.* The paperback is over 704 pages, FFS. It has an involved plot. I mean, the man couldn’t read a one-page briefing summary (so they did away with briefings). I would bet that The Donald has not read an entire book in his life, once he got through the Dick and Jane series in grade school. Probably didn’t finish those either.
- Not saying he can comprehend a tweet.
I think it was Fran Lebowitz who said, in the 90s, that you could not find anyone dumber than Donald Trump. And now I see there is controversy with something she said-