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Grandfather Says: A Few Words About Counterculture

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Original oil painting by: Grandfather’s wife

Grandfather says he has been a fan of Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson, ever since he can’t remember when …

Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “To be great is to be misunderstood.”

Grandfather says he hasn’t had much truck with “greatness” — but he knows that to be countercultural, as those men were, is of little interest to those living mainstream contemporary lives.

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About the Author: RD Blakeslee is a nonagenarian in West Virginia who built his net worth by only investing in that which can be enjoyed during acquisition and throughout life, as opposed to papers in a drawer, like stocks and bonds. You can read more about him here. This article was originally published on 3 May 2018.

Photos: Courtesy of the Blakeslee Family

Comments

  1. 1

    RD Blakeslee says

    For those who think about genuine liberty and how it could be got in greater measure in ones own life, I recommend considering Henry David Thoreaus essay “Civil Disobedience”, for a start.

    To Grandfathers mind, liberty cannot be obtained by “social justice” political action – It’s obtained quietly, on ones own.

    Anyway, here are a few quotes which are valuable for Grandfather:

    “All good things are wild and free.”
    “A man is rich in proportion to the number of things which he can afford to let alone.”
    “Every generation laughs at the old fashions, but follows religiously the new.”
    — Henry David Thoreau

    Can anything be so elegant as to have few wants, and to serve them one’s self?
    — Ralph Waldo Emerson

    “A man is not a whole and complete man, unless he owns a house and the ground it stands on.”
    — Walt Whitman, 1865

  2. 2

    Codrut Turcanu says

    I like this quote a lot …

    “All good things are wild and free.”

    Thank you!

    • 3

      RD Blakeslee says

      You’re welcome, Codrut!

      For my part, it’s encouraging to find folks who appreciate libertarian life.

  3. 4

    Carl says

    If you think about it, the counterculture has now eclipsed our way of life. What we call “counterculture” today is actually those traditional conservative values that were around before the “counterculture revolution” of the 1960s.

    • 5

      RD Blakeslee says

      Quite right, Carl.

      Unfortunately, the third of the above quotes of Thoreau’s applies today, as always.

      • 6

        RD Blakeslee says

        I should add, Carl, that I appreciate your use of the word “think”. I wish I would see it, used as you do, more often.

    • 8

      bill says

      Oh dear. I am quite familiar with the term “truck” as you used it. I’m claiming it is because I am an old soul, and not an old man.

      If I cannot have compassion on someone, and treat them with dignity, I myself, am not free. My freedom comes from my ability to ignore what others think, and do what my heart knows is right.