802 years ago on this day, Boniface of Montferrat and Enrico Dandolo led the crusaders over the walls of Constantinople, setting off an orgy of destruction that ensured the eventual Turkish conquest of Southeastern Europe. I can't believe it's been 802 years!

I think the aphorism that "Time heals all wounds," is totally bunk. It is merely a way of sugarcoating the human tendency to perceive life/history in terms of fate/destiny in such a way that the natural progression of things is not only meaningful but ultimately comprehensible. As Plato believed, that the gods always ensure justice and goodness. This concept exists across cultures... karma, luck, adl...

But I have to disagree here... it is human nature to perceive things in that way, to believe that for every indignity, there will be a balancing triumph. I firmly don't think that God established the universe along those lines.

He did give people a geist (or a thumos....no more German philosophical terms)... and with that one can direct events to a desired outcome... assuming one is willing to dedicate oneself to the unpleasantness of the discipline/sacrifice required to reach such an outcome. Maybe the strongest thumos is to realize the limits of physical reality... and accept them... rather than to hope fate will lead otherwise.

??/??/? 0rz