Proverb for paranoids

[Murthy Yenamandra]

andrew at cee.hw.ac.uk writes:
> Murthy Yenamandra writes:
> > Steely provides us the original version:
> > > "The innocence of the *creatures* is in inverse proportion to the
> > > immorality of the *Master*."
> > Two, I don't have my copy here to check the context, but does any one
> > want to comment on why the proportion is *inverse* here and not direct?
> > The inverse proportion works for creatures that're created by the master
> > (and are his extensions), but not creatures that're enslaved by the
> > master.
> 
> If the master is innocent then his creatures will not be under his
> control and therefore almost certainly contain some corrupt or
> corrupted creature who leads the others to perdition.
> 
> If the master is immoral then he will maintain the innocence of his
> creatures to ensure that they do not try any tricks or give the game
> aaway through bad acting - stooges do a much finer job than those
> whose evil might lead them to try making a percentage out of your
> abuse.

This was my point - you're saying that the innocence of the creatures
is proportional to the immorality of the master, not in inverse
proportion. As stated in the proverb, the more immoral the master, the
less innocent the creatures (unless steely himself has misquoted the
original - I have to look this up now).

Proud to be posting from the birthplace of the MMPI, where the royalties
from the test are still the major source of money for the university
press.

Murthy

-- 
Murthy Yenamandra, Dept of CompSci, U of Minnesota. mailto:yenamand at cs.umn.edu
              "Things fall apart; the center cannot hold.
               Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world"