Director: Kon Ichikawa
The year is 1945, and the setting is the (just barely) Japanese-occupied Philippines. Japan has been losing the war and its army has been reduced by lack of supplies and manpower. As things go from bad to worse, discipline breaks down too, and the army begins to resemble a gang of convicts more than a fighting force. Soon it becomes a brutish fight for survival.
A young man from Australia writes that he feels a general malaise and depression, and finds it difficult to get motivated. I offer some blunt talk to put things in perspective. I also provide some specific guidance on how he can break out of his old patterns.
A reader wants to know how reliable his intuition is. Should he rely on it, or should he instead fall back on his powers of rational analysis and deliberation? It’s a great question.
I’ve been thinking about this for some time, and have decided that the arguments in favor of it are far more compelling than those against it. These are the reasons.
Yes, I’m aware that it’s not yet Sunday. But so what? Why wait a day? Here are some recommendations.
A follower on Twitter says that he’s having some problems focusing on his studies. He wants to know how he can get more motivated, and keep his motivation.
An interesting fable is found in one of the published lectures of the late historian J.B. Bury. Some investigation into its lineage shows that it is of very old date, and has appeared in various literary sources. One was Boccaccio’s Decameron; another was the medieval chronicle Gesta Romanorum; and yet another was from Lessing’s drama Nathan der Weise. In most essentials, the stories agree with each other, and I will reproduce it here.
An engineer wants to know the best way he should leave his high-paying but low-satisfaction job, and start his own business.
Are some ways better than others? What considerations should he be thinking about?
Clovis I was one of the three truly foundational figures in French history, along with Julius Caesar and Charlemagne. As king of the Franks–rex francorum–he was the first sovereign to bring all of the recalcitrant tribes of the region under one dynasty and one regal roof. He founded a new dynasty and ruled for thirty years in all: not reigned, but actually ruled. He was not a man to be trifled with, and he was what he had to be considering the times and circumstances of his environment.
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