"Think left, act right!"

"Think as a leftist, and act as a rightist," some old birds told me in prison. A leftist adheres to the principle in an uncompromising way, like a man who brushes off his hat and gown after taking a bath. A rightist conforms himself to the general public in a realistic way, like a man who would wash his hat-lace when the water is clean and wash his feet when it is not. How should we deal with the conflict between ideas and reality? An ancient question indeed. [Shenzi]

 

There is a poet devoted to insulting respectable or respectable-looking persons. She once described Mr Shin as a fox who has evolved from a swine through twenty years of prison-time. Though I do not have a taste for her profanity, I admit that she usually has a point. Mr Shin is really like a fox when he comes out to combine values of opposing lines in such a plausible way. The fox can be a respectable animal. [Orun]