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posted by dennisn on November 20th, 2008 at 12:04AM
How is that a proverb? Sounds more like a truism.
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posted by dennisn on November 20th, 2008 at 12:18AM
Apparently it's origins aren't very well known: http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A807374
It also appears to have been intended as a curse originally, though I see it as a compliment. I suppose the word "interesting" has different nuances today; differences and change may very well have been disliked a long time ago, though I think we embrace these ideas far more today.
In the above linked article is mentioned a possibly related quote: 'It's better to be a dog in a peaceful time than be a man in a chaotic period.' ... which is pretty lame advice. The story of humanity has been a constant struggle to be man, sapien(t), in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds and tempts to just give up and be a dog. Though, admittedly, most Chinese probably accept the temptation, and lots of us as well, for that matter. It's just so easy being a dog. |
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posted by Vina on November 20th, 2008 at 12:17AM
it's supposed to be a proverb in Chinese, but it's translated into English. It has been used often in the media. I just need the story behind it - my boss gave me this task.
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posted by dsk on November 24th, 2008 at 4:51PM
I think the quote is "May you live in interesting times". I think the idea is that 'interesting' times are times of turmoil, war or more generally, change (which is almost always painful). So as Dennis says, it is a curse (or sounds like it).
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posted by Vina on November 24th, 2008 at 6:51PM
I've never heard of this proverb/curse in Chinese. In fact, a lot of Chinese people never heard of it. So, I just stuck to what my boss told me to look into: 'we live in interesting times', and told him that it meant 'the right person at the right time'. He's going to use that in his bear market presentation. Wish me luck! I've prepared for my defense, already (I got 2 strong sources to back me up)
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