(originally published on Facebook, 8 November 2014, in response to a troll).
There is a phenomenon I wish to speak about, called Napoleon’s Last Gasp.
This is what we derive from the knowledge that the atmosphere of our planet is so completely churned within a single generation that of all the millions of air molecules every one of us takes in with every inhalation, are some of those that the Emperor Napoleon released as he breathed his last.
This is a rather daunting prospect, and it is rendered even more intimidating by the knowledge that it is not just true of Napoleon. With every breath, you and I and the troll all take in some of what once filled the lungs of Isaac Newton, of Marie Curie, of Florence Nightingale, of Victor Hugo, of Samuel Clemens, of Martin Luther King, of Vincent Van Gogh, of Alexandre Dumas, of Frederick Douglas, of Jonas Salk, of Charles Chaplin, of Norman Borlaug, of Mohandas K. Gandhi, of Harvey Milk and Isaac Asimov and of Robin Williams and of Nicholas Winton (look him up) and of those who may not have been great but who at the very least were not terrible: the nameless millions who over the centuries lived their lives with honor and without malice.
The same wind that gave life to so much that justified the history of the human animal also gives life to us.
It is a given that, for almost everyone, the air we breathe will not know its noblest home as it expands our own chests. But if we cannot honor it we must at least strive not to insult it. If we cannot live up to the journey that whiff of air has taken through so many notable individuals, we should at least, at this moment of our own imprisonment in this magnificent world, do whatever we can to avoid sullying and betraying that precious gasp of life by being less than we should be, and thus proving ourselves unworthy of such an elemental gift.
In short, we should aspire to more than being a waste of breath.
Good night, everyone.
Comment By: Lauretta Nagel
July 3rd, 2015 at 7:18 pm
Well-said.
Comment By: John Crowley
July 3rd, 2015 at 8:23 pm
He left out all the bad guys whose air we also breathe. (Not excepting, in the opinion of some, Napoleon.)
Comment By: anny cook
July 3rd, 2015 at 8:25 pm
Amen.
Comment By: David Vineyard
September 21st, 2015 at 1:17 pm
It takes so little to justify being here and some can’t manage that much.
Comment By: Jeff Deischer
September 21st, 2015 at 1:17 pm
I had to block one person, my first, a few weeks ago. I didn’t like it. He was something who I had gotten along with and he suddenly, out of the blue, went apeshit. It upset me for a couple of days, because I felt like I’d lost a comrade.
Comment By: David Gerrold
September 21st, 2015 at 1:17 pm
You’re giving them too much energy. I’ve noticed that occasionally, if I block a drive-by-shouter, I’ve forgotten his/her name even before I go back to my own page.
Comment By: Gerald A. De Luca
September 21st, 2015 at 3:19 pm
Bravo for you. I have shared simiar experiences and reacted in the same way.
Comment By: Travis Creason
September 21st, 2015 at 5:21 pm
I know I get blocked a great deal, but I know I can be an intense asshole frequently. Having Rick Sanchez as an avatar and mentor probably isn’t (burp)helping.
Comment By: Barb Padgett
September 21st, 2015 at 7:19 pm
My motto in such situations is: “Life’s too short.”