Admiration

Passages

Every passage tagged with this emotion in the Vela corpus. Search the body text, narrow by source or register, click through to a book’s profile to see how the passage sits with the rest of the work.

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• From Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years (2009)

  the most dangerous of circumstances to resist apartheid, to fight lawsuits or survive the disappearance of their loved ones into South African jails. The South African security services, so adept at penetrating and subverting such organizations, never succeeded in infiltration here, nor did they unmask the agents who were distributing the funds: tens of thousands of people were given around £100 million. Collins’s IDAF remains one of the greatest achievements of twentieth-century liberal Protestantism.32 Churchmen like Huddleston, Tutu and Collins played a major part alongside the imprisoned Nelson Mandela in ensuring that the African National Congress remained firmly committed to an effort to establish a genuine and all-inclusive democracy when the white minority regime eventually lost the will to resist. The liberation struggle in South Africa remained much more closely linked than elsewhere to the concerns of liberal Western Christianity for other freedoms – homosexual rights, the ordination of women – and that has been an important factor in recent travails of the Anglican Communion. Moreover, Archbishop Tutu was at the forefront of the movement to seek national healing rather than sectional revenge after the eventual defeat of apartheid and the coming of universal democracy in 1994. He headed a Truth and Reconciliation Commission which has been imitated in other places riven by long-term hatreds and atrocities. Nelson Mandela as president symbolized the commitment to a Christian reconciliation when he proclaimed that the old Afrikaner national anthem Die Stem (‘The Call’) should continue to stand alongside the serene Xhosa Christian hymn written in 1897 by a Methodist schoolteacher, Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika: ‘Lord, bless Africa … Descend, O Spirit; Descend, O Holy Spirit’.33 Not the least dramatic aspect of this reconciliation was the repentance shown by the official bodies of the South African Dutch Reformed Church for their part in providing ideological blessing for the lunacy of apartheid. As recently as 1982 they had responded angrily to their exclusion from the World Alliance of Reformed Churches with an emphatic assertion of their constant testing of ‘the demands of Holy Scripture … to strive for the best practical way in which to fulfil our apostolic calling to be the Church of Jesus Christ giving due consideration to our experience within the unique South African ethnic situation’. Only eight years later, the year that Nelson Mandela was freed after twenty-seven years in jail, the Church in a declaration at Rusten-burg took practical steps to restore property to the ‘relocated’ and provide funds for renewal and resettlement of exiles, since ‘Confession and forgiveness necessarily require restitution. Without it, a confession of guilt is incomplete.’34 On the other side of the Atlantic five years later, in 1995, another Church

• From Books That Have Made History: Books That Can Change Your Life (2005)

  110 Lecture 21: Pericles, Oration; Lincoln, Gettysburg Address Pericles, Oration; Lincoln, Gettysburg Address Lecture 21 Both had a vision of their nation; and for both Pericles and Lincoln, that vision was of their nation as the leader to the world. The model to the world, with all the world looking up to Athens or to the United States, as the best hope of humankind. T he Aeneid, a magni fi cent work of Latin poetry, has in fl uenced each succeeding generation of European literature. The Aeneid is a statement of the Roman ideal of the mission of the Roman nation: to lead the world to a new era of peace and prosperity and to unite the world under Roman rule. According to Vergil, the mission of the Greeks was to create art and science, whereas the mission of Rome was to conquer the arrogant and lift up the weak. The Aeneid is also a philosophic statement of duty, which is a theme that all must consider. What is our duty? How do we perform it? Are we called to a special mission in life, or do we drift aimlessly? Finally, the Aeneid is a poem about war. Aeneas was a warrior and statesman. The poem starts with the consequences of the Trojan War and the destruction of Troy. It concludes with a war that Aeneas and the Trojans did not want, that was forced on the Trojans in Italy. As a result of that war, Italy was united and a new Rome was founded. In answer to the question of whether wars solve anything, Vergil would say that war enabled Rome to be founded. War has been a constant in human history. The earliest written historical document comes from ancient Egypt. It is a cosmetic palette, created around 3000 B.C., that depicts the wars of King Narmer to unify Egypt. The generations that fought World War I and World War II believed that they were fi ghting the war to end all wars. It is often the duty of a great statesman to lead a nation into war, just as it is the duty of that nation’s citizens to fi ght the war. The thinking person must ask whether it is more important to fi ght for one’s country or to take a stand and say that war is wrong and that no war is right or justifi ed. War is not a question of democracy or dictatorships. The 20 th century was the most democratic age in history, but it was the one that

• From The Art of Seduction (2001)

  hallmarks of a true lover longer than the others. Of course the major was a decorated soldier, well and of a perfect knight educated, an accomplished dancer, and one of the most handsome men in were almost identical. The the army. But Pauline, thirty years old at the time, had had affairs with lover was bound to serve dozens of men who could have matched that resume. and obey his lady as a knight served his lord. In A few days after the affair began, the imperial dentist arrived chez both cases the pledge was of Pauline. A toothache had been causing her sleepless nights, and the dentist a sacred nature. saw he would have to pull out the bad tooth right then and there. No — N I N A EPTON, painkillers were used at the time, and as the man began to take out his vari-LOVE AND THE FRENCH ous instruments, Pauline grew terrified. Despite the pain of the tooth, she changed her mind and refused to have it pulled. Major Canouville was lounging on a couch in a silken robe. Taking all In one of the goodly towns of the kingdom of France this in, he tried to encourage her to have it done: "A moment or two of there dwelt a nobleman of pain and it's over forever. . . . A child could go through with it and not ut-good birth, who attended ter a sound." "I'd like to see you do it," she said. Canouville got up, went the schools that he might over to the dentist, chose a tooth in the back of his own mouth, and or-learn how virtue and honor are to be acquired among dered that it be pulled. A perfectly good tooth was extracted, and Canou-virtuous men. But ville barely batted an eyelash. After this, not only did Pauline let the dentist although he was so do his job, her opinion of Canouville changed: no man had ever done any-accomplished that at the age of seventeen or eighteen thing like this for her before. years he was, as it were, The affair had been going to last but a few weeks; now it stretched on. both precept and example Napoleon was not pleased. Pauline was a married woman; short affairs to others, Love failed not to add his lesson to the rest; were allowed, but a deep attachment was embarrassing. He sent Canouville and, that he might be the to Spain, to deliver a message to a general there. The mission would take better harkened to and weeks, and in the meantime Pauline would find someone else. received, concealed himself in the face and the eyes of Canouville, though, was not your average lover. Riding day and night, the fairest lady in the without stopping to eat or sleep, he arrived in Salamanca within a few days.

• From The Art of Seduction (2001)

  tailoring each one for its intended victim.) BY J O H N HAYLOCK AND FRANCIS KING A few years after D'Annunzio began work as a society reporter, he married the daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Gallese. Shortly thereafter, with the unshakeable support of society ladies, he began publishing novels and books of poetry. The number of his conquests was remarkable, and In short, nothing is so sweet as to triumph over also the quality—not only marchionesses would fall at his feet, but great the Resistance of a artists, such as the actress Eleanor Duse, who helped him become a re-beautiful Person; and in spected dramatist and literary celebrity. The dancer Isadora Duncan, an-that I have the Ambition of Conquerors, who fly other who eventually fell under his spell, explained his magic: "Perhaps the perpetually from Victory to most remarkable lover of our time is Gabriele D'Annunzio. And this Victory and can never notwithstanding that he is small, bald, and, except when his face lights up prevail with themselves to put a bound to their with enthusiasm, ugly But when he speaks to a woman he likes, his face is Wishes. Nothing can transfigured, so that he suddenly becomes Apollo. . . . His effect on women restrain the Impetuosity of is remarkable. The lady he is talking to suddenly feels that her very soul and my Desires; I have an being are lifted." Heart for the whole Earth; and like Alexander, I could At the outbreak of World War I, the fifty-two-year-old D'Annunzio wish for New Worlds joined the army. Although he had no military experience, he had a flair for wherein to extend my the dramatic and a burning desire to prove his bravery. He learned to fly Amorous Conquests. and led dangerous but highly effective missions. By the end of the war, he —MOLIÈRE, DON JOHN OR THE LIBERTINE, TRANSLATED BY was Italy's most decorated hero. His exploits made him a beloved national JOHN OZELL figure, and after the war, crowds would gather outside his hotel wherever in Italy he went. He would address them from a balcony, discussing politics, railing against the current Italian government. A witness of one of these speeches, the American writer Walter Starkie, was initially disappointed at the appearance of the famous D'Annunzio on a balcony in Venice; he was short, and looked grotesque. "Little by little, however, I began to sink under the fascination of the voice, which penetrated into my consciousness. . . . The Rake • 23 Never a hurried, jerky gesture. . . . He played upon the emotions of the Among the many modes of crowd as a supreme violinist does upon a Stradivarius. The eyes of the handling Don Juan's effect on women, the motif of the

• From The Art of Seduction (2001)

  The embodiment of the Ideal Lover for the 1920s was Rudolph Valentino, or at least the image created of him in film. Everything he did—the gifts, the flowers, the dancing, the way he took a woman's hand—showed a scrupulous attention to the details that would signify how much he was thinking of her. The image was of a man who made courtship take time, transforming it into an aesthetic experience. Men hated Valentino, because women now expected them to match the ideal of patience and attentiveness that he represented. Yet nothing is more seductive than patient attentiveness. It makes the affair seem lofty, aesthetic, not really about sex. The power of a Valentino, particularly nowadays, is that people like this are so rare. The art of playing to a woman's ideal has almost disappeared—which only makes it that much more alluring. If the chivalrous lover remains the ideal for women, men often idealize the Madonna/whore, a woman who combines sensuality with an air of spirituality or innocence. Think of the great courtesans of the Italian Renaissance, such as Tullia d'Aragona—essentially a prostitute, like all courtesans, but able to disguise her social role by establishing a reputation as a poet and philosopher. Tullia was what was then known as an "honest courtesan." Honest courtesans would go to church, but they had an ulterior motive: for men, their presence at Mass was exciting. Their houses were pleasure palaces, but what made these homes so visually delightful was their artworks and shelves full of books, volumes of Petrarch and Dante. For the man, the thrill, the fantasy, was to sleep with a woman who was sexual yet had the ideal qualities of a mother and the spirit and intellect of an artist. Where the pure prostitute excited desire but also disgust, the honest courtesan made sex seem elevated and innocent, as if it were happening in the Garden of Eden. Such women held immense power over men. To this day they remain an ideal, if for no other reason than that they offer such a range of pleasures. The key is ambiguity—to combine the appearance of sensitivity to the pleasures of the flesh with an air of innocence, spirituality, a poetic sensibility. This mix of the high and the low is immensely seductive.

• From The Art of Seduction (2001)

  Here the soldiers fell to the ground, kissing the hem of her dress—they had heard so much about her but had never seen her in person, and she seemed to them like a statue of the Madonna come to life. They gave her an army uniform, marveling at how beautiful she looked in men's clothes, and set off under Orlov's command for the Winter Palace. The procession grew as it passed through the streets of St. Petersburg. Everyone applauded Cather- ine, everyone felt that Peter should be dethroned. Soon priests arrived to give Catherine their blessing, making the people even more excited. And through it all, she was silent and dignified, as if all were in the hands of fate. When news reached Peter of this peaceful rebellion, he grew hysterical, and agreed to abdicate that very night. Catherine became empress without a single battle or even a single gunshot. As a child, Catherine was intelligent and spirited. Since her mother had wanted a daughter who was obedient rather than dazzling, and who would therefore make a better match, the child was subjected to a constant barrage of criticism, against which she developed a defense: she learned to seem to defer to other people totally as a way to neutralize their aggression. If she was patient and did not force the issue, instead of attacking her they would fall under her spell. When Catherine came to Russia—at the age of sixteen, without a friend or ally in the country—she applied the skills she had learned in dealing with her difficult mother. In the face of all the court monsters— the imposing Empress Elizabeth, her own infantile husband, the endless schemers and betrayers—she curtseyed, deferred, waited, and charmed. She had long wanted to rule as empress, and knew how hopeless her husband was. But what good would it do to seize power violently, laying a claim that some would certainly see as illegitimate, and then have to worry endlessly that she would be dethroned in turn? No, the moment had to be ripe, and she had to make the people carry her into power. It was a feminine style of revolution: by being passive and patient, Catherine suggested that she had no interest in power. The effect was soothing—charming. There will always be difficult people for us to face—the chronically in- secure, the hopelessly stubborn, the hysterical complainers. Your ability to disarm these people will prove an invaluable skill. You do have to be care- ful, though: if you are passive they will run all over you; if assertive you will make their monstrous qualities worse. Seduction and charm are the most effective counterweapons. Outwardly, be gracious. Adapt to their every 92 • The Art of Seduction mood. Enter their spirit. Inwardly, calculate and wait: your surrender is a strategy, not a way of life. When the time comes, and it inevitably will, the tables will turn.

• From The Art of Seduction (2001)

  In Boston a few weeks later, some sixty Harvard boys had prepared an ambush: they would make fun of this effeminate poet by dressing in knee breeches, carrying flowers, and ap- in his physical appearance and contact, gave charm to his manners, and grace to his precision of speech. The first sight of him affected people in various ways. Some could hardly restrain their laughter, others felt hostile, a few were afflicted with the "creeps" many were conscious of being uneasy, but except for a small minority who could never recover from the first sensation of distaste and so kept out of his way, both sexes found him irresistible, and to the young men of his time, says W. B. Yeats, he was like a triumphant and audacious figure from another age. —HESKETH PEARSON, OSCAR WILDE: HIS LIFE AND WIT Once upon a time there was a magnet, and in its close neighborhood lived some steel filings. One day two or three little filings felt a sudden desire to go and visit the magnet, and they began to talk of what a pleasant thing it would be to do. Other filings nearby overheard their conversation, and they, too, became infected with the same desire. Still others joined them, till at last all the filings began to discuss the matter, and more and more their vague desire grew into an impulse. "Why not go today?" said one of them; but others were of opinion that it would be better to wait until tomorrow. Meanwhile, without their having noticed it, they had been involuntarily moving nearer to the magnet, which lay there quite still, apparently taking no heed of them. And so they went on discussing, all the time 190 • The Art of Seduction plauding far too loudly at his entrance. Wilde was not the least bit flustered. The audience laughed hysterically at his improvised comments, and when the boys heckled him he kept his dignity, betraying no anger at all. Once again, the contrast between his manner and his physical appearance made him seem rather extraordinary. Many were deeply impressed, and Wilde was well on his way to becoming a sensation. The short lecture tour turned into a cross-country affair. In San Fran- cisco, this visiting lecturer on art and aesthetics proved able to drink every- one under the table and play poker, which made him the hit of the season. On his way back from the West Coast, Wilde was to make stops in Colo- rado, and was warned that if the pretty-boy poet dared to show up in the mining town of Leadville, he would be hung from the highest tree. It was an invitation Wilde could not refuse. Arriving in Leadville, he ignored the hecklers and nasty looks; he toured the mines, drank and played cards, then lectured on Botticelli and Cellini in the saloons.

• From The Art of Seduction (2001)

  considerable expense of money and effort, and had beaten his opponents fairly and squarely. Who was Truman to circumvent the democratic process? "This is a young country," Kennedy went on, his voice getting louder, "founded by young men . . . and still young in heart. . . . The [ John F. ] Kennedy world is changing, the old ways will not do, . . . It is time for a new genera- brought to television news and photojournalism the tion of leadership to cope with new problems and new opportunities." components most prevalent Even Kennedy's enemies agreed that his speech that day was stirring. He in the world of film: star turned Truman's challenge around: the issue was not his inexperience but quality and mythic story. With his telegenic looks, the older generation's monopoly on power. His style was as eloquent as skills at self presentation, his words, for his performance evoked films of the time—Alan Ladd in heroic fantasies, and Shane confronting the corrupt older ranchers, or James Dean in Rebel With- creative intelligence, Kennedy was brilliantly out a Cause. Kennedy even resembled Dean, particularly in his air of cool prepared to project a major detachment. screen persona. He A few months later, now approved as the Democrats' presidential can- appropriated the discourses of mass culture, especially didate, Kennedy squared off against his Republican opponent, Richard of Hollywood, and Nixon, in their first nationally televised debate. Nixon was sharp; he knew transferred them to the 124 • The Art of Seduction news. By this strategy he the answers to the questions and debated with aplomb, quoting statistics on made the news like dreams the accomplishments of the Eisenhower administration, in which he had and like the movies— a served as vice-president. But beneath the glare of the cameras, on black and realm in which images played out scenarios that white television, he was a ghastly figure—his five o'clock shadow covered accorded with the viewer's up with powder, streaks of sweat on his brow and cheeks, his face drooping deepest yearnings. . . . with fatigue, his eyes shifting and blinking, his body rigid. What was he so Never appearing in an actual film, but rather worried about? The contrast with Kennedy was startling. If Nixon looked turning the television only at his opponent, Kennedy looked out at the audience, making eye apparatus into his screen, contact with his viewers, addressing them in their living rooms as no politi-he became the greatest cian had ever done before. If Nixon talked data and niggling points of de-movie star of the twentieth century. bate, Kennedy spoke of freedom, of building a new society, of recapturing — J O H N HELLMANN, T H E America's pioneer spirit. His manner was sincere and emphatic. His words KENNEDY OBSESSION: THE were not specific, but he made his listeners imagine a wonderful future. AMERICAN MYTH OF JFK

• From Books That Have Made History: Books That Can Change Your Life (2005)

  132 Lecture 25: Plato, Republic Plato, Republic Lecture 25 What, then, is nobility? How do we go about de fi ning it? Socrates, through Plato, would say it is about justice and it is about de fi ning the concept of justice. T his lecture continues the theme of government and justice, especially the moral values that are essential to a good government. The model of Socrates, who insisted that terms be de fi ned, can guide us through the great books. What do we really mean about the nobility of dying for one’s country? Socrates, through Plato, would say that nobility is related to justice. Justice is one of a number of essential qualities, or virtues, that every individual should have. Socrates explored these qualities in his discussion of the immortal soul in the Phaedo. These qualities are found in a variety of cultures and are refl ected in such diverse literature as the Bhagavad Gita and in Confucius. These qualities include wisdom, justice, courage, and moderation. Courage is, of course, essential for those who go to war. An individual must have the wisdom to understand the difference between courage exercised in a just war and courage exercised in an unjust war. Without the wisdom to understand that a nation is fi ghting for justice, courage is nothing more than brutality. Moderation links the virtues. When any quality—even courage—is carried too far, it becomes unjust. Courage, moderation, and wisdom—working together—produce true justice. That is the theme of Plato’s Republic. Plato’s Republic, which is a magisterial discussion of what makes a good state, was probably composed during the 380s B.C. Plato was a pupil of Socrates and paid his teacher the greatest of compliments by putting all his own ideas into the mouth of Socrates, thereby indicating that none of his thinking would have existed without Socrates. Although Plato is called a philosopher, he was an intellectual. Philosophers, such as Confucius and Socrates, live their wisdom; intellectuals talk about ideas and try, from time to time, to put them into action. Plato, for example, went to Sicily and tried to help educate the young tyrant Dionysius. This attempt was a failure.

• From Thinking, Fast and Slow (2011)

  22 Expert Intuition: When Can We Trust It? Professional controversies bring out the worst in academics. Scientific journals occasionally publish exchanges, often beginning with someone’s critique of another’s research, followed by a reply and a rejoinder. I have always thought that these exchanges are a waste of time. Especially when the original critique is sharply worded, the reply and the rejoinder are often exercises in what I have called sarcasm for beginners and advanced sarcasm. The replies rarely concede anything to a biting critique, and it is almost unheard of for a rejoinder to admit that the original critique was misguided or erroneous in any way. On a few occasions I have responded to criticisms that I thought were grossly misleading, because a failure to respond can be interpreted as conceding error, but I have never found the hostile exchanges instructive. In search of another way to deal with disagreements, I have engaged in a few “adversarial collaborations,” in which scholars who disagree on the science agree to write a jointly authored paper on their differences, and sometimes conduct research together. In especially tense situations, the research is moderated by an arbiter. My most satisfying and productive adversarial collaboration was with Gary Klein, the intellectual leader of an association of scholars and practitioners who do not like the kind of work I do. They call themselves students of Naturalistic Decision Making, or NDM, and mostly work in organizations where they often study how experts work. The NDMers adamantly reject the focus on biases in the heuristics and biases approach. They criticize this model as overly concerned with failures and driven by artificial experiments rather than by the study of real people doing things that matter. They are deeply skeptical about the value of using rigid algorithms to replace human judgment, and Paul Meehl is not among their heroes. Gary Klein has eloquently articulated this position over many years. This is hardly the basis for a beautiful friendship, but there is more to the story. I had never believed that intuition is always misguided. I had also been a fan of Klein’s studies of expertise in firefighters since I first saw a draft of a paper he wrote in the 1970s, and was impressed by his book Sources of Power, much of which analyzes how experienced professionals develop intuitive skills. I

• From The Art of Seduction (2001)

  During these difficult months, while Peter offended almost everyone in the country, Catherine discreetly kept a lover, Gregory Orlov, a lieutenant in the guards. It was through Orlov that word spread of her piety, her patriotism, her worthiness for rule; how much better to follow such a woman than to serve Peter. Late into the night, Catherine and Orlov would talk, and he would tell her the army was behind her and would urge her to stage a coup. She would listen attentively, but would always reply that this was not the time for such things. Orlov wondered to himself: perhaps she was too gentle and passive for such a great step. The Charmer • 91 Peter's regime was repressive, and the arrests and executions piled up. He also grew more abusive toward his wife, threatening to divorce her and marry his mistress. One drunken evening, driven to distraction by Catherine's silence and his inability to provoke her, he ordered her arrest. The news spread fast, and Orlov hurried to warn Catherine that she would be imprisoned or executed unless she acted fast. This time Catherine did not argue; she put on her simplest mourning gown, left her hair half undone, followed Orlov to a waiting carriage, and rushed to the army barracks. Here the soldiers fell to the ground, kissing the hem of her dress—they had heard so much about her but had never seen her in person, and she seemed to them like a statue of the Madonna come to life. They gave her an army uniform, marveling at how beautiful she looked in men's clothes, and set off under Orlov's command for the Winter Palace. The procession grew as it passed through the streets of St. Petersburg. Everyone applauded Catherine, everyone felt that Peter should be dethroned. Soon priests arrived to give Catherine their blessing, making the people even more excited. And through it all, she was silent and dignified, as if all were in the hands of fate. When news reached Peter of this peaceful rebellion, he grew hysterical, and agreed to abdicate that very night. Catherine became empress without a single battle or even a single gunshot. As a child, Catherine was intelligent and spirited. Since her mother had wanted a daughter who was obedient rather than dazzling, and who would therefore make a better match, the child was subjected to a constant barrage of criticism, against which she developed a defense: she learned to seem to defer to other people totally as a way to neutralize their aggression. If she was patient and did not force the issue, instead of attacking her they would fall under her spell. When Catherine came to Russia—at the age of sixteen, without a friend or ally in the country—she applied the skills she had learned in dealing with her difficult mother. In the face of all the court monsters—

• From The Art of Seduction (2001)

  arson in her heart. \ hair was pulled into a severe chignon, and she wore tailored suits. It was a Penelope was racked by serious look, befitting a woman who was to become the savior of the poor. crafty Ulysses's absence, \ Soon her image could be seen everywhere—her initials on the walls, the Protesilaus, abroad, made Laodameia burn. \ Short sheets, the towels of the hospitals for the poor; her profile on the jerseys of partings do best, though: a soccer team from the poorest part of Argentina, whose club she spon-time wears out affections, \ sored; her giant smiling face covering the sides of buildings. Since finding The absent love fades, a out anything personal about her had become impossible, all kinds of elabo-new one takes its place. \ With Menelaus away, rate fantasies began to spring up about her. And when cancer cut her life Helen's disinclination for short, in 1952, at the age of thirty-three (the age of Christ when he died), sleeping \ Alone led her the country went into mourning. Millions filed past her embalmed body. into her guest's \ Warm bed at night. Were you crazy, She was no longer a radio actress, a wife, a first lady, but Evita, a saint. Menelaus? — O V I D , T H E A R T O F L O V E , TRANSLATED BY PETER GREEN Interpretation. Eva Duarte was an illegitimate child who had grown up in poverty, escaped to Buenos Aires to become an actress, and been forced to do many tawdry things to survive and get ahead in the theater world. Her Concerning the Birth of dream was to escape all of the constraints on her future, for she was in-Love • Here is what tensely ambitious. Perón was the perfect victim. He imagined himself a happens in the soul: • great leader, but the reality was that he was fast becoming a lecherous old 1. Admiration. • 2. You think, "Mow delightful it man who was too weak to raise himself up. Eva injected poetry into his Poeticize Your Presence • 281 life. Her language was florid and theatrical; she surrounded him with atten- would be to kiss her, to tion, indeed to the point of suffocation, but a woman's dutiful service to a be kissed by her," and so on. . . . • 3. Hope. You great man was a classic image, and was celebrated in innumerable tango bal- observe her perfections, and lads. Yet she managed to remain elusive, mysterious, like a movie star you it is at this moment that a see all the time on the screen but never really know. And when Perón was woman really ought to surrender, for the utmost

• From The Art of Seduction (2001)

  Then, in February of 1815, news reached France of Napoleon's dramatic escape from Elba, with seven small ships and a thousand men. He Beware the Aftereffects • 427 could head for America, start all over, but instead he was just crazy enough to land at Cannes. What was he thinking? A thousand men against all the armies of France? He set off toward Grenoble with his ragtag army. One at least had to admire his courage, his insatiable love of glory and of France. Then, too, the French peasantry were spellbound at the sight of their former emperor. This man, after all, had redistributed a great deal of land to them, which the new king was trying to take back. They swooned at the sight of his famous eagle standards, revivals of symbols from the revolution. They left their fields and joined his march. Outside Grenoble, the first of the troops that the king sent to stop Napoleon caught up with him. Napoleon dismounted and walked on foot toward them. "Soldiers of the Fifth Army Corps!" he cried out. "Don't you know me? If there is one among you who wishes to kill his emperor, let him come forward and do so. Here I am!" He threw open his gray cloak, inviting them to take aim. There was a moment of silence, and then, from all sides, cries rang out of "Vive l'Empereur!" In one stroke, Napoleon's army had doubled in size. The march continued. More soldiers, remembering the glory he had given them, changed sides. The city of Lyons fell without a battle. Generals with larger armies were dispatched to stop him, but the sight of Napoleon at the head of his troops was an overwhelmingly emotional experience for them, and they switched allegiance. King Louis fled France, abdicating in the process. On March 20, Napoleon reentered Paris and returned to the palace he had left only thirteen months before—all without having had to fire a single shot. The peasantry and the soldiers had embraced Napoleon, but Parisians were less enthusiastic, particularly those who had served in his government. They feared the storms he would bring. Napoleon ruled the country for one hundred days, until the allies and his enemies from within defeated him. This time he was shipped off to the remote island of St. Helena, where he was to die.

• From The Art of Seduction (2001)

  At a time when other politicians were scrambling desperately to adapt to the national crisis, and seemed weak in the process, Lenin was rock stable. His prestige soared, as did the member- ship of the Bolshevik party Most astounding of all was Lenin's effect on workers, soldiers, and peas- ants. He would address these common people wherever he found them—in the street, standing on a chair, his thumbs in his lapel, his speech an odd mix of ideology, peasant aphorisms, and revolutionary slogans. They would listen, enraptured. When Lenin died, in 1924—seven years after single- handedly opening the way to the October Revolution of 1917, which had swept him and the Bolsheviks into power—these same ordinary Russians went into mourning. They worshiped at his tomb, where his body was preserved on view; they told stories about him, developing a body of Lenin folklore; thousands of newborn girls were christened "Ninel," Lenin spelled backwards. This cult of Lenin assumed religious proportions. There all kinds of misconceptions about charisma, which, paradoxically, only add to its mystique. Charisma has little to do with an exciting physical appearance or a colorful personality, qualities that elicit short—term interest. Particularly in times of trouble, people are not looking for entertainment— they want security, a better quality of life, social cohesion. Believe it or not, a plain-looking man or woman with a clear vision, a quality of single- mindedness, and practical skills can be devastatingly charismatic, provided it is matched with some success. Never underestimate the power of success in enhancing one's aura. But in a world teeming with compromisers and fudgers whose indecisiveness only creates more disorder, one clear-minded soul will be a magnet of attention—will have charisma. One on one, or in a Zurich cafe before the revolution, Lenin had little or no charisma. (His confidence was attractive, but many found his strident manner irritating.) He won charisma when he was seen as the man who could save the country. Charisma is not a mysterious quality that inhabits you outside your control; it is an illusion in the eyes of those who see you as having what they lack. Particularly in times of trouble, you can enhance that illusion through calmness, resolution, and clear-minded practicality. It also helps to have a seductively simple message. Call it the Savior Syn- No one could so fire others with theif plans, no one could so impose his will and conquer by force of his personality as this seemingly so ordinary and somewhat coarse man who lacked any obvious sources of charm. . . . Neither Plekhanov nor Martov nor anyone else possessed the secret radiating from Lenin of positively hypnotic effect upon people—I would even say, domination of them.

• From The Art of Seduction (2001)

  And she was pretty, with her flowing blond hair and her serious face, which was often on the covers of the gossip magazines. Only a month after Evita's death, the newspaper vendors' union put forward her name for canonization, and although this gesture was an isolated one and was never taken seriously by the Vatican, the idea of Evita's holiness remained with many people and was reinforced by the publication of devotional literature subsidized by the government; by the renaming of cities, schools, and subway stations; and by the stamping of medallions, the casting of busts, and the issuing of ceremonial stamps. The time of the evening news broadcast was changed from 8:30 P.M. to 8:25 P.M., the time when Evita had "passed into immortality," and each month there were torch-lit processions on the twenty-sixth of the month, the day of her death. On the first anniversary of her death, La Prensa printed a story about one of its readers seeing Evita's face in the face of the moon, and after this there were many more such sightings reported in the newspapers. For the most part, official publications stopped short of claiming sainthood for her, but their restraint was not always convincing. . . . In the calendar for 1953 of the Buenos Aires newspaper vendors, as in other unofficial images, she was depicted in the traditional blue robes of the Virgin, her hands crossed, her sad head to one side and surrounded by a halo. —NICHOLAS FRASER AND MARYSA NAYARRO. EVITA The Charismatic • 111 In 1943, those magazines published a most exciting story: Eva had begun an affair with one of the most dashing men in the new military government, Colonel Juan Perón. Now Argentines heard her doing propa- ganda spots for the government, lauding the "New Argentina" that glis- tened in the future. And finally, this fairy tale story reached its perfect conclusion: in 1945 Juan and Eva married, and the following year, the handsome colonel, after many trials and tribulations (including a spell in prison, from which he was freed by the efforts of his devoted wife) was elected president. He was a champion of the descamisados—the "shirtless ones," the workers and the poor, just as his wife was. Only twenty-six at the time, she had grown up in poverty herself. Now that this star was the first lady of the republic, she seemed to change. She lost weight, most definitely; her outfits became less flamboy- ant, even downright austere; and that beautiful flowing hair was now pulled back, rather severely. It was a shame—the young star had grown up. But as Argentines saw more of the new Evita, as she was now known, her new look affected them more strongly. It was the look of a saintly, serious woman, one who was indeed what her husband called the "Bridge of Love" between himself and his people.

• From Books That Have Made History: Books That Can Change Your Life (2005)

  172 Lecture 33: Cicero, On Moral Duties (De Offi ciis) abroad,” studying philosophy in Athens. At that time, philosophy was not an arid academic discipline. It was the crowning accomplishment of a general education. Students who could afford the expense went to Athens to study under one of the great philosophers. Cicero wrote De Offi ciis in the form of a letter to his son to enable the young man to learn from Cicero’s experience. During Cicero’s career as an attorney, he demonstrated that a person could be successful and wealthy, as well as a man of integrity. He took diffi cult and dangerous cases, defending the poor and those in political trouble. Cicero realized that the highest calling was public service. He set out to prove that he could be an honest and successful politician. He held high political offi ce and was consul of Rome. In 63 B.C., a faction, led by Catiline, sought to destroy the constitution. Cicero took a fi rm stand, although others warned him that he was following a dangerous course. Cicero put the salvation of his country, its constitution, and its liberty before his own needs. He broke up the conspiracy and took responsibility for having the conspirators put to death. For a brief while, Cicero was exiled, but he was brought back. When Caesar triumphed, Cicero took a stand against Caesar. Cicero believed that Caesar had enormous ability but that he sought to destroy the liberty of Rome for the sake of his own ambition. Cicero tried all his life to follow the moral course. He believed that all morality was founded on the idea of natural law. Natural law is the belief that God exists and is revealed in the reason of nature. The entire universe is a place of reason, and the entire universe reveals the hand of God. Like Plato, Cicero believed that God had established a set of absolute values, including wisdom, justice, courage, and moderation. These values exist even if they are denied in everyday life. An individual can be good as well as successful. No dichotomy exists between morality and expediency. An immoral act, such as lying or cheating, can never be helpful. No separation exists between the private and public selves. The highest possible calling for an individual is public duty. Wisdom is found in knowing the truth, understanding absolute values, and knowing how to apply these values to one’s life. At the beginning, the individual needs facts and information, but later in life, he can weave these facts into a broader set of knowledge. Knowledge is worthless unless it is used to fi nd and apply

• From The Art of Seduction (2001)

  reached him, was a lazy and cowardly young man who was unlikely to cru- himself not simply as a sade against the English. Undaunted, she moved from village to village, ex- holy man but as a prophet plaining her mission to soldiers and asking them to escort her to Chinon. or even as a living god. On the strength of inspirations Young girls with religious visions were a dime a dozen at the time, and or revelations for which he there was nothing in Joan's appearance to inspire confidence; one soldier, claimed divine origin this however, Jean de Metz, was intrigued with her. What fascinated him was leader would decree for his followers a communal the detail of her visions: she would liberate the besieged town of Orléans, mission of vast dimensions have the king crowned at the cathedral in Reims, lead the army to Paris; and world-shaking she knew how she would be wounded, and where; the words she attributed importance. The conviction of having such a mission, to Saint Michael were quite unlike the language of a farm girl; and she was of being divinely appointed so calmly confident, she glowed with conviction. De Metz fell under her to carry out a prodigious spell. He swore allegiance and set out with her for Chinon. Soon others of- task, provided the fered assistance, too, and word reached Charles of the strange young girl on disoriented and the frustrated with new her way to meet him. bearings and new hope. It On the 350-mile road to Chinon, accompanied only by a handful of gave them not simply a soldiers, through a land infested with warring bands, Joan showed neither place in the world but a unique and resplendent fear nor hesitation. The journey took several months. When she finally ar- place. A fraternity of this rived, the Dauphin decided to meet the girl who had promised to restore kind felt itself an elite, set him to his throne, despite the advice of his counselors; but he was bored, infinitely apart from and above ordinary mortals, and wanted amusement, and decided to play a trick on her. She was to sharing also in his meet him in a hall packed with courtiers; to test her prophetic powers, he miraculous powers. disguised himself as one of these men, and dressed another man as the —NORMAN COHN, prince. Yet when Joan arrived, to the amazement of the crowd, she walked THE PURSUIT OF THE straight up to Charles and curtseyed: "The King of Heaven sends me to MILLENNIUM you with the message that you shall be the lieutenant of the King of Heaven, who is the king of France." In the talk that followed, Joan seemed to echo Charles's most private thoughts, while once again recounting in extraordinary detail the feats she would accomplish. Days later, this indecisive, flighty man declared himself convinced and gave her his blessing to lead a French army against the English.

• From Books That Have Made History: Books That Can Change Your Life (2005)

  203 Lee, and George Patton have paid tribute to the military brilliance of Caesar. Caesar undertook a series of economic, political, and social reforms at Rome and in the provinces of the Roman Empire, which laid the foundation for the next 2,000 years of European history and civilization. Jealousy of Caesar and his own lack of patience led to Caesar’s assassination by a conspiracy of 63 senators, headed by Brutus and Cassius. Among the great books we study, Vergil’s Aeneid, Dante’s The Divine Comedy , and Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar all pay him tribute. King, Martin Luther, Jr. : American civil rights leader (1929–1968). A minister and son of a minister, King was a man of profound faith and courage. He stood up against a corrupt social and political system in the American South, which denied to U.S. citizens their constitutional rights on the basis of race. King led nonviolent resistance to segregation that resulted in major legislation and the collapse of segregation. His political and social views evolved into a strong resistance to the American war in Vietnam and an increasing focus on economic reform. His assassination in 1968 remains a mystery. King was profoundly in fl uenced in his beliefs by the Bible, Thoreau, and Gandhi, as well as a number of great books, which he quoted in his profoundly moving Letter from a Birmingham Jail (discussed in A History of Freedom [Lecture 35e]). Lenin, Vladimir: Soviet Russian revolutionary and dictator (1870–1924). Lenin was a convinced follower of Karl Marx who instituted one of the most brutal tyrannies in history in order to transform the Russian Empire into a Marxist state. Lenin came from a middle-class background and was well educated. His plots against the tsarist regime forced him into exile. By the agency of the German government, he returned to Russia in 1917 at a critical moment in the beginning of the revolution. Lenin had a powerful intellect and an utterly ruthless drive for power. He masterminded the Bolshevik seizure of power and victory in the civil war. He crushed all opposition and established the main features of the communist dictatorship in the Soviet Union, including the use of terror as a state policy and the concentration camps. In addition to his political leadership, Lenin also made fundamental contributions to Marxist theory, and subsequent generations of communists all over the world have called their ideology Marxism-Leninism.

• From The Art of Seduction (2001)

  their feelings, and spent hours in their ladies' boudoirs, listening to the seeing the Captain was of women's complaints and soaking up their spirit. In return for their willing- a surety a right gallant ness to play weak, the troubadours earned the right to love. gentleman, and as ready- tongued as most, he was Little has changed since then. Some of the greatest seducers in recent able so to win them over at history—Gabriele D' Annunzio, Duke Ellington, Errol Flynn—understood this, the very first visit, the value of acting slavishly to a woman, like a troubadour on bended knee. that they did gain their The key is to indulge your softer side while still remaining as masculine as father's leave for him to quit his wretched dungeon possible. This may include an occasional show of bashfulness, which the and to be put in a seemly philosopher Søren Kierkegaard thought an extremely seductive tactic for a enough chamber and man—it gives the woman a sense of comfort, and even of superiority. Re- receive better treatment. Nor was this all, for they member, though, to keep everything in moderation. A glimpse of shyness did crave and get is sufficient; too much of it and the target will despair, afraid that she will permission to come and see end up having to do all the work. him freely every day and converse with him. • And A man's fears and insecurities often concern his sense of masculinity; he this did fall out so well that usually will feel threatened by a woman who is too overtly manipulative, presently both the twain of who is too much in control. The greatest seductresses in history knew how them were in love with him, albeit he was not to cover up their manipulations by playing the little girl in need of mascu- handsome to look upon, line protection. A famous courtesan of ancient China, Su Shou, used to and they very fair ladies. make up her face to look particularly pale and weak. She would also walk And so, without a thought in a way that made her seem frail. The great nineteenth-century courtesan of the chance of more rigorous imprisonment or Cora Pearl would literally dress and act like a little girl. Marilyn Monroe even death, but rather knew how to give the impression that she depended on a man's strength to tempted by such survive. In all of these instances, the women were the ones in control of opportunities, he did set himself to the enjoyment of the dynamic, boosting a man's sense of masculinity in order to ultimately the two girls with good will enslave him. To make this most effective, a woman should seem both in and hearty appetite. And need of protection and sexually excitable, giving the man his ultimate these pleasures did continue without any scandal, for so fantasy. fortunate was he in this

• From Middlesex (2002)

  People came to Temple No. 1 to hear Fard's lectures. They also came to shop. In the old cloakroom, Sister Wanda displayed the gar- ments that the Prophet said were "the same kind that the Negro peo- ple use in their home in the East." She rippled the iridescent fabrics under the lights as converts stepped up to pay. Women exchanged the maids' uniforms of subservience for the white chadors of emancipa- tion. Men replaced the overalls of oppression with the silk suits of 149 dignity. The temple's cash register overflowed. In lean times, the mosque was flush. Ford was closing factories but, at 3408 Hastings Street, Fard was open for business. Desdemona saw little of all this up on the third floor. She spent her mornings teaching in the classroom and her afternoons in the Silk Room, where the uncut fabrics were stored. One morning she brought in her silkworm box for show-and-tell. She passed the box around, telling the story of its travels, how her grandfather had carved it from olivewood and how it had survived a fire, and she managed to do all this without saying anything derogatory about the students' co-religionists. In fact, the girls were so sweet and friendly that Desdemona remembered what it had been like in the times when the Greeks and Turks used to get along. Nevertheless: black people were still new to my yiayia. She was shocked by various discoveries: "Inside the hands," she informed her husband, "the mavros are white like us." Or: "The mavros don't have scars, only bumps." Or: "Do you know how the mavro men shave? With a powder! I saw it in the store window." In the streets of Black Bottom, Desdemona was appalled at the way people lived. "Nobody sweeps up. Garbage on the porches and nobody sweeps it. Terrible." But at the temple things were different. The men worked hard and didn't drink. The girls were clean and modest. "This Mr. Fard is doing something right," she said at Sunday din- ner. "Please," Sourmelina dismissed this, "we left veils back in Turkey." But Desdemona shook her head. "These American girls could use a veil or two." The Prophet himself remained veiled to Desdemona. Fard was like a god: present everywhere and visible nowhere. His glow lingered in the eyes of people leaving a lecture. He expressed him- self in the dietary laws, which favored native African foods— the yam, the cassava— and prohibited the consumption of swine. Every so often Desdemona saw Fard's car— a brand-new Chrysler coupe— parked in front of the temple. It always looked freshly washed and waxed, its chrome grille polished. But she never saw Fard at the wheel. "How do you expect to see him if he's God?" Lefty asked with amusement one night as they were going to bed. Desdemona lay 150 smiling, as though tickled by her first week's pay hidden under the mattress. "I'll have to have a vision," she said.