Charles,
The more I surf over the Internet, the more I'm amazed by the richness of its cross-references --I typed in 'parcere subjectis' in the Google search engine and here you're:
....This question is of course not one upon which those who like or who dislike Walt Whitman's writings can pass final judgment. Posterity often does surprising things and adopts queer views. Among its peculiarities is a tendency "parcere subjectis et debellare superbos" [to spare the conquered and vanquish the proud]; and for all any one living knows this proclivity may be exercised on behalf of Walt Whitman.
Excerpt from:
jefferson.village.virginia.edu
It was indeed a Roman maxim.
Regarding this comment of yours: I wish chivalric groups and monarchic groups wielded such influence! I guess that as a Traditionalist I fall into their group of suspects. The Knights of Malta haven't called me yet.
Chivalric brotherhoods do have some influence in society, although not as much because knights and other mediaeval Orders can enforce obedience in today's democratic societies as because of their members'social pedigree....
To help you to get the point, just think of those outlandish rings as of some special, selective clubs.... Granted the Knights of Malta didn't give you a bell but hey, your local Rotary Club didn't either! And do you qualify for, say, Paris' select Jockey Club? Or, how about the Bilderberg's? I understand it's hard to believe for Joes like us that people who allegedly belong to the upper crust of society and who are busily involved in rational, no-nonsense activities such as banking, law, big business, diplomacy, etc. could, at the same time, fiddle around with such burlesque fellowships.
Yet the clue is quite self-evident: imagine, Charles, that you're an all-American billionaire, you have it all! Money, social status, and most significantly, culture consciousness! How would you behave with such a God's cornucopia of gifts? I'll tell you.... You'd eventually socialize with your fellow elites, set up some informal meeting club (for barbecues and bridge parties) and one day, you'd start discussing about your sociopolitical responsability, about you, as a gifted, priviliged, happy few as kind of a think tank amenable to the Western, American value system. Isn't it a praiseworthy mission, fit for your life fulfillment? I mean forget about materialistic trifles --you're already filled with money, prestige, culture and other egocentric vanities! Henceforth, you're vested with a higher mission! You're an initiate! You're gonna use your money and your mundane clout to defend Christendom, to foster Western values, to repel barbarity!
Hey, looks like you got mixed up in some exciting crusade!
Omne tulit punctum qui miscuit utile dulci.
Gus,
the cabbies' role model. |
