Yes, Friday, November 4th is “Use Your Common Sense Day”. A day to celebrate something that so many of us have so little of.
Today, common sense is defined as ‘sound, practical judgement concerning everyday matters, or a basic ability to perceive, understand and judge in a manner that is common to nearly all people to live in a reasonable and safe way.’ However, the concept of common sense is very ancient. It was first codified by Greek philosopher Aristotle
in describing the raw analysis of the animal mind to explain how the different senses join together and enable discrimination of particular objects by people and other animals.
The Romans used the term to explain the natural human sensitivity for other humans and the community. A basic awareness and ability to judge that most people are expected to share naturally, even if they cannot explain why.
Jumping forward a millennium, Common Sense was, famously the title of a 47-page pamphlet written by Thomas Paine.
Published anonymously in January 1776 it became an immediate sensation, making a persuasive and impassioned case for independence from Britain for the thirteen American colonies, which had not yet been given serious intellectual consideration. In proportion to the population of the colonies at that time (2.5 million), it had the largest sale and circulation of any book published in American history, and as of 2006, remained the all-time best-selling American title and is still in print today.
We guess this just goes to show how desperate people have always been for “common sense”.
First celebrated in 2015, “Use Your Common Sense Day” also commemorates the birthday of one of America’s most famous humorists – Will Rogers
who insightfully commented that “Common sense ain’t all that common”.
Born in 1879, Will Rogers was an American vaudeville performer, actor, and humorous social commentator. He was born as a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, in what is now part of the state of Oklahoma. As an entertainer and humorist, he traveled around the world three times, made 71 films (50 silents and 21 "talkies"), and wrote more than 4,000 nationally syndicated newspaper columns. By the mid-1930s, Rogers was hugely popular in the United States for his leading political wit and was among the highest paid of Hollywood film stars. He died in a small plane crash in Alaska in 1935.
And we share here a few famously humorous and insightful quotes from Will Rogers, common sense related or otherwise…..
“A fool and his money are soon elected.”
“Too many people spend money they haven’t earned to buy things they don’t want to impress people they don’t like.”
“Advertising is the art of convincing people to spend money they don’t have for something they don’t need.”
“All I know is just what I read in the papers, and that’s an alibi for my ignorance.”
“Live in such a way that you wouldn’t be ashamed to sell your parrot to the town gossip.”
“You’ve got to go out on a limb sometimes because that where the fruit is.”
“An onion can make people cry but there’s never been a vegetable that can make people laugh.”
How can you celebrate on November 4th? Maybe spend some introspective time looking at things from a new perspective. Laugh about some of the silly mistakes you’ve made, because the best way to deal with them are with humor and making a different choice the next time. Watch some YouTube videos on the stupid things that people do.
Because we always must remember that common sense is like deodorant. The people who need it most never use it….
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