 ...
Indians don't talk to fill time. When they don't have
anything to say, they don't say it. When they don't say it,
they leave the impression of being a little ominous. In the
presence of this Indian silence, whites sometimes get nervous and
feel forced as a matter of politeness or kindness to fill the
vacuum with a kind of small-talk which often says one thing and
means another. But these well-mannered circumlocutions of
aristocratic Europe speech are "forked-tongue" talk to
the Indian and are infuriating. They violate his
morality. He wants you to either
speak from the heart or keep quiet. ... |
|
"...the doctrine of
a life-to-come is not such an uplifting idea after all because it
necessarily devalues life on earth... From "The Mystery of
Consciousness" by Steven Pinker |
