Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Words of Wisdom from Petrarch
Read the following three excerpts from Petrarch's Letters (I won't make you translate from the Latin), and write a brief response to one of them. Does it "speak to you" across the ages? In what respects does it express some of the main ideas of the Renaissance? Please try to keep your postings brief. Comments should be made before Tuesday 9/25.
(28) Then there are books of different kinds in whose substance and whose authors one has pleasant, unfailing companions, ready at his bidding to go into public or return to his house, always prepared to be silent or to speak, to stay at home or to accompany him in the woods, to travel, to remain in the country, to converse, to amuse, to cheer, to comfort, to advise, to dispute, to consult, to teach the secrets of nature, the memorable deeds of history, the rule of life and the contempt of death, moderation in prosperity, fortitude in adversity, equanimity and steadfastness in all our actions; cheerful associates, learned, humble, and eloquent, free from annoyance and expense, without complaint or grumbling, without envy or treachery. Add to all these benefits that they do not ask for food or drink and are content with scant raiment and a narrow portion of the house, though they afford their hosts inestimable treasures of mind, spacious houses, brilliant attire, delightful entertainment, and most savory food.
(29) For behold, there will come persons who will show us the way to great riches, which is nothing else than to teach avarice— truly a pernicious school, and an exceedingly laborious and difficult doctrine, to be learned only with great expense of vigils and toil, and destined either to miss its goal or to do injury by its success. To a mind occupied in such thoughts let us say, “Consider, rather, the way to avoid the desire of riches.” For that is the more useful, and certainly the easier art, and if the mind is a little slow and indisposed for this lesson, it should be stimulated with additional incentives. Let us prove to it that, aside from the evils of riches concerning which I have just been speaking and which are daily in the mouths of many persons, this art is in our own hands while the other is in the power of fortune. Any one may despise wealth, to gain it is not so easy. You know that saying of our friend, “Why should I demand of fortune that she give, rather than demand of myself that I should not crave?” And so I think it is better to leave unattempted an undertaking which is difficult and of doubtful issue and which, even if it were of assured utility, would be ill-timed and too late. For look, shall we perspire and pant and torture ourselves for fear of lacking sustenance in our short and perishable existence when, as I said, we already have means heaped up to the extent of enviable luxury?
(30) Cicero, you recall, writing once to his brother said, "As for your frequent exhortations to me in the past to ambition and work, I shall act on them, but when shall we live?" A brief question but a pregnant one. Similarly may not any one reply with sufficient point and seriousness to the adviser I have just spoken of? “Your suggestion, my friend, is good, if only it is practicable. But when shall we begin to live, I pray you, whose part it clearly is not merely to begin to live but already to have lived?” For this life of constant anxiety, directed toward the morrow, is not life at all, but preparation for a life which may never come and which is well known to be doubtful. Among many observations of the plebeian poet you may hold this one as not spoken in an ignorant manner:Trust me, it is not the nature of a wise man to say, “I shall live.”It is too late to live tomorrow, you must live today.
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(29) A desire to seek certain riches is not necessarily a vice, like Petrarch is saying. However, he is correct in asserting that we should focus on the luxuries we do have and "live in the moment" rather than worry how to attain even greater wealth. His ideas a re parshly applicable to today. It is probably healthy to seek certain, realistic luxuries, but do not be focused on them to the point where you do not enjoy the luxuries you already have.
ReplyDelete(30) Petrarch is saying that we can't wait for life to happen but we must make our own life and live it. This is true for all ages that you must do what you can in the present and not wait to do something. It reflects the ideas of humanism in the Renaissance and how the people must take advantage of their opportunities and to learn and not wait but do what they can in the present. It is saying that if you wait to do something, when you finally attempt to do it, it might be too late.
ReplyDelete(29) It is certainly an ideal to be able to live comfortable, however, some people never seemed to be satisfied. Some require more and more continously, which inhibits their goals of quality. Petrarch is right to claim that we should be satified with what he have and while we may strive for more, we should not have greed consume us.
ReplyDelete(29) Petrarch is saying that it is easy to think about and be drawn to the idea of astounding wealth, but we must try to be satisfied with what we have and not think too much about what we don't possess. I think that all average human beings can relate, because we are very capable of beating ourselves up over the fact that we don't have more than we already have. When we do this, we stop ourselves from enjoying life and are subject to living in regret and disgust. This reflects some of the ideas of the Renaissance because people tried so hard to succeed but were upset when they weren't drenched in wealth.
ReplyDelete(29) Petrarch's discussion about the desire for wealthis an interesting one because we are still having that same discussion today. Petrarch states that in the attempt to acquire wealth most will fail and the ones that do succeed will do more harm than good. In today's world many companies often exploit the lives of their workers in the attempt to make a bigger profit. Prominent companies such as Nike and Dole have been accussed of this and it is unacceptable to value profits over the lives of your workers. The Renaissance idea that all people can work to achieve dignity is present here, as Petrarch discusses the costs of becomeing wealthy. The Church had been telling people that their lives don't matter, but now people are starting to believe that they can achieve something in this world and it is wrong for the powerful to abuse them.
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ReplyDelete(30) The medeival idea of suffereing, toiling, and praying for salvation throughout your life fades into obscurity once the Renaissance begins. In Petrach's Letter (#30), the idea of life is not to die so you can recieve salvation and go to heaven. Instead, the idea of living changes from living for the sole sake of being salvaged by God to what Cicero and Petrach are saying about living for the enjoyment of life. Life should be about doing things that make your lifetime useful and practical, not being miserable and praying to God that you will go to heaven. The main idea in Petrach's Letters (30) is to appreciate life and make the most out of it by doing things that have an impact on yourself and other around you.
ReplyDelete(30)"But when shall we live" is the debate Petrarch asks his audience. The Renaissance was the rebirth of individualism, a time where the everyday man felt he had the ability to succeed, progress and move up the social ladder. As oppose to the Middle Ages, where the Catholic Church had written articles on the worthlessness of earthly life, Petrarch tells us that the time to live is in the present. He makes the point of saying why make the preparations for a life (the afterlife) which may never come when you can take advantage and make the best of the one you have now, on earth.
ReplyDelete(30) Petrarch's letter to Cicero perfectly exemplifies the new European mindset at during the Renaissance. Prior to the Renaissance, through some of the strict and unfair teachings of the Roman Catholic Church, Europeans had no identity. They understood their lives as a waiting period until their deaths when they would have the chance of living in eternity with God. Until then, Europeans lived sad lives to only glorify God with the hope of a salvation that may never come. Realizing this, Petrarch encouraged Cicero to live his life to its fullest.
ReplyDelete(30) Cicero is posing the question to his brother about whether working all the time is worth giving up enjoying life and the fruits of the hard work. He is saying, why work all the time if you don't get enjoy the rewards from that work. This is an example of the main Renaissance idea of living and enjoying for today. Unlike the Middle Age mindset, which was to achieve salvation after death one must continually work and sacrifice. This piece speaks to me especially today when my parents and guidance counselor are telling me to work,work,work but I wonder when do I ever to get to relax and enjoy life?
ReplyDelete(30) Petrarch's call to live life for today both reflects the developing philosophy of the Renaissance and serves as a pertinent message for even those in today's world such as myself. Petrarch is chronicling a central message amongst humanists in his writings as he encourages humans to live for today seeing as "it is too late to live for tomorrow." Personally, this quote spoke to me as a logical argument and as I continued to read I realized just how frequently I tend lose focus of living life to the best that I can.This idea of finding purpose in the present life as opposed to working for the purpose of salvation in the afterlife was bold given the time period as Church leaders continued to preach so heavily on the worthlessness of man in the current life. Ultimately, Petrarch's letters portraying the vision of purpose within life foreshadows the growing influence humanists would have on European society and serves as a prime example of Renaissance teachings.
ReplyDelete"There are books...in who substance and whose authors one has pleasant, unfailing companions." This quote by Petrarch sums up the value and wisdom one can find in books. In each book, one can discover new knowledge - knowledge that is always an "unfailing companion." This is also related to a major theme of the Renaissance: with knowledge found in books (such as ancient Greek and Roman texts), one can improve one's own destiny and the condition of the society around you.
ReplyDelete(30) Petarch, in his letter to Cicero, makes a point that instead of focusing on tomorrow we should live in the present moment. His main point in the letter, "...But when shall we begin to live, I pray you", reflects the changing philosophy of many Renaissance thinkers. This idea of individual thought and humanism was part of the many philosophies that developed throughout the era, breaking the medieval mindset that we explored during our summer reading. In addition, I believe that this quote applies to many people our age in the modern world, as many of us spend far too much time planning for the future instead of living for the present moment. I believe that people in the past and those in the present can easily relate to this passage.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Tim when he stated that too many of us spend our time planning for the future, and it was no different at the time when Petarch wrote this letter. He comments on humans desire to hoard wealth and then die without fully appreciating what they have. He understands that people of the time, as well as today, pile up their belongings and talents and then fade away. The mentality of Renaissance thinkers changed, as is highlighted through this letter, to learn to live life to its fullest and appreciate what they had and to utilize what they could do.
ReplyDelete(29) In this excerpt from one of Petrarch's letters he is talking about how people care too much about wealth. He says how many people let greed control there lives and think of nothing else. It is understandable to want to live a comfortable life but to be consumed by greed is not god. This passage speaks to us today perhaps even more strongly than it did to Petrarch's contemporaries. In our consumer based society we are constantly looking to buy something and keep up with the latest trends. He is saying how wealth does not create happiness.
ReplyDelete(30) In this letter to Cicero Petrarch talks about how people need to live in the present. "For this life of constant anxiety, directed toward the morrow, is not life at all...". Petrarch is talking about how peole are constantly worrying about the future and how that is no way to live life. People need to appreciate everyday and not worry about tomorrow so much. The Church had preached that everyone is worthless and the only way to salvation is the Church. They put fear into people's minds for them to obey. In the Renaissance that mindset began to fracture.
ReplyDelete(29) I agree with Chris's response because Petrarch is trying to say that wealth never really leads to much good. Many spend their entire lifetimes trying to achieve it but those who actually have wealth exploit it and use it in the wrong ways. Wealth can read to corruption of the mind, body, and soul and turn good people into greedy, self-centered snobs wo only care about money. This letter incorporates Renaissance thinking because the desire for wealth of knowledge is ust as important to the desire for wealth itself.
ReplyDelete(28) Petrarch's statements about reading still holds true today in that a book can completely take over a reader's whole mind, body, and soul. A book can come to life. This is clearly a Renaissance idea because humanists stressed people learning on their own about Greek philosophy and works. It stressed being able to read on your own and make your own assessments of what the author has written down. Humanists stressed reading in the many schools they created devoted to teaching kids many different languages and having them read primary sources then analyzing them on their own. Reading can influence how a person acts and thinks, and what that person believes. Petrarch made this clear through his letter 28.
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