Today In Fact, 12 December

There is an old seTswana saying which goes; “If you see the king’s cow on the road and walk past, you are in trouble, but if you see the king’s cow on the road and take it home, you are in trouble.”

The idea behind this ancient African saying was introduced to the West by Joseph Heller in his satirical book; Catch 22, published in 1961. In the book, Yossarian, a US Army Air Corps Captain is faced with absurd no-win situations as he tries to avoid combat missions during World War 2.

What Heller and the Tswana realized is that life absurd and limiting. That situations conspire to defeat us.

Joseph Heller died today in 1999 and to quote from his book: “Well, he died. You don’t get any older than that.”

– Posted by Douglas Racionzer (serendipiday.blogspot.com)