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> "velvet-gloved menace" What does that mean? Sounds interesting.
by charlieflowers 10y ago
> "velvet-gloved menace"
What does that mean? Sounds interesting.
- munchbunny 10y agoA quick search seems to indicate that "velvet glove" refers to gentle but persistent persuasion. Evangelicals come to mind (not of the fire and brimstone variety).
- Nomentatus 10y agoHe was extremely good with people; it's easy to mistake great people skills for excellent ethics when evaluating others but they aren't at all the same! He managed to make that mistake when looking at his own actions. He wasn't a Sociopath, I don't believe, because he could be considerate and do good things, his charm wasn't as shallow as theirs. He could have extreme empathy. But where he was stunningly selfish; there was no redress, he was incapable of examining his own actions for fault as he held himself enlightened and beyond such things. (Whereas in Mahayana Buddhism, enlightenment is said NOT to remove all our negative "tendencies", it only guarantees that we don't add more, and gives us a good change of noticing remaining tendencies.) If a whim took him, the damage would be done without a glance back. And no past good behavior on other's part tempered his decisions. A sort of Don Quixote. The only other person I've known to be very like him was also a mystic (but Sufi type) whose personality had been formed largely by hundreds of LSD trips. Also a menace you didn't see coming. Astonishing to meet, but not good to know. So maybe LSD or similar was a factor in the first case, too, and the spiritual breakthrough more manufactured than accomplished.