gluttony

The one whose concern is with thatwhich enters the belly will discover that his value is found in thatwhich goes out of it.

Poor animals! How jealously they guard their pathetic bodies_that which to us is merely an evening__ meal, but to them is life itself.

Our plump predicament comes from the way we think. In America life hasbecome a daily quest for instant gratification. Do we think about the long term? Rarely. We ask ourselves, __hat sounds good?_ That__ where we get into trouble focusing on what we want rather than what we need. Then we invent new ways to satisfy ourselves.

Instead of going out on Saturday night as planned, I decided to stay in with a few of my closest friends from the complex carbohydrate family. Well actually, like most of my friends, they're not that complex.

Shukhov ate his supper without bread--a double portion and bread on top of it would be too rich. So he'd save the bread. You get no thanks from your belly--it always forgets what you've just done for it and comes begging again the next day.

Oh, pity the poor gluttonWhose troubles all beginIn struggling on and on to turnWhat's out into what's in.

I suppose there are people who can pass up free guacamole, but they're either allergic to avocado or too joyless to live.

Am I tough? Am I strong? Am I hard-core? Absolutely. Did I whimper with pathetic delight when I sank my teeth into my hot fried-chicken sandwich? You betcha.

If we are defined by reason and morality, then reason and morality must define our choices, even when animals are concerned. When people say, for example, that they like their veal or hot dogs too much to ever give them up, and yeah it's sad about the farms but that's just the way it is, reason hears in that the voice of gluttony. We can say that what makes a human being human is precisely the ability to understand that the suffering of an animal is more important than the taste of a treat.

If necessity is the mother of invention, then surely greed must be the father. Children of this odd couple are named: Laziness, Envy, Greed, Jr., Gluttony, Lust, Anger and Pride.