Thursday, April 17, 2008

Thoughtful Thursday

The age-old joke:
"I say, do you like Kipling?"

"I can't say as I know - I've never Kippled before."


From Rudyard Kipling, on the subject of Social Progress:

As it will be in the future, it was at the birth of Man.
There are only four things certain since Social
Progress began; -
That the Dog returns to his Vomit and the Sow returns
to her Mire,
And the burnt Fool's bandaged finger goes wabbling
back to the Fire.


14 comments:

Anonymous said...

I just kippled in the middle of one of my meetings. God it was embarrassing!

Anonymous said...

My husband tried to Kipple me the other day, unfortunately it was over the phone and I couldn't respond accordingly

Rather awkward...

Anonymous said...

Countess Catherinette: Try Mowgli's Stay Fresh Kipple Guards - not just for seniors anymore!!

Countess AG: Ooh, how perfectly naughty!

Mental P Mama said...

Dear. God. How. True.

Writeprocrastinator said...

Wow, he was not a great author, but a statesman as well?

Anonymous said...

Countess MPM: I know! This tidbit just jumped out the page at me - it is timeless, succinct and profound.

Count WP: I am not aware of his political leanings - I found this gem in The Portable Curmudgeon. That being said, I'm sure one can be both a curmudgeon and a stateman - TTFN, darling, I'm off to Wikipedia Rudyard!

Lisa said...

OK, is it just me or was that only 3 things? Or is there something I was supposed to infer about the missing fourth thing? Hmmmmm. I'm so literal ... poetry often escapes me.

.....Barbra Peapod

Joe said...

That's the story of my life. I think I'm going to put that up on the wall of my office. Thanks!

Anonymous said...

Countess Babs: I'm no English major (though I play one on tv...)and I hesitated to post this, because I couldn't quite figure it out! I'm thinking that the point is that the missing 4th certainty points to the openness of uncertainty.

Wow, I'm deep. Like a puddle.

Count Bubs: You are very welcome - always happy to be involved with the beautification of the planet!

Lisa said...

Well, I may not be a natural blonde but apparently I've been one long enough for the colorant to soak in and pickle my head. (Yeah, I'll blame it all on some hair dye ... haha!)

This would probably explain why I also never "get" jokes.

...Barbra Peapod

Anonymous said...

Countess Babs: You may be onto something with the hair coloring theory - I've been a blonde, a brunette, and a redhead - this explains so much...I'm surprised I can still read at all!

Anonymous said...

Countess Babs: Some clarification - I meant that I had hestitated to post the poem, because that 4th thing was niggling away at me...

RiverPoet said...

Hi B von B! Thanks for stopping by my place and leaving some lovely comments!

There must be a Kipling ripple running through the Internet, because Josie just wrote about Kipling's poem to his son John, who he had encouraged to go into the military. His son was killed in his very first battle. (You can link to Josie's site from my BlogRoll...she's C'est La Vie).

Peace - D

Anonymous said...

Countess Momma: A "Kipling Ripple"? I love it! I know that there is a Masterpiece Theater show coming out either this week or next all about Mr. K - with Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter)playing his son - maybe that was the pebble in the pond that started the ripple...I will check out C'est La Vie.

 
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