reading does a body good

"In ancient times, people's hearts were direct and straightforward. Because their hearts were direct, their actions were simple, and because things were simple, the words they spoke also were uncomplicated. When emotions rose up in their hearts, they would put them into words and would sing, and they called this "poetry" [uta}. When they sang, they did so directly and with a single heart. Their words were in ordinary, straightforward language, so they flowed and were well ordered without any conscious effort to make them so. Poetry was simply the expression of a single heart, so in the past there was no particular differentiation between those who were poets and those who were not."

- Kamo No Mabuchi on "Poetry" and the way it used to be... well, in Japan and before the 18th Century

He continues...

"When people's hearts became clever, they began to quarrel with one another, so naturally they learned wicked ways, causing society to decline."


Makes me want to sing "why can't we be friends."