"Quote... Unquote"

So far the only thing I've downloaded in the way of books to my iPhone is a free version of Aesop's Fables - those short tales of the animal world meant to teach us a moral lesson.  Though it is doubtful that many of the fables now claimed to be by Aesop were actually his, whatever the origin the lessons taught still apply over 2000 years later.  I particularly enjoyed this little tale of a dog, who like one other puppy I know, was a trifle unpredictable.

The Mischievous Dog

A Dog used to run up quietly to the heels of those he met, and to bite them without notice. His master sometimes suspended a bell about his neck, that he might give notice of his presence wherever he went, and sometimes he fastened a chain about his neck, to which was attached a heavy clog, so that he could not be so quick at biting people's heels.

The Dog grew proud of his bell and clog, and went with them all over the market-place. An old hound said to him: "Why do you make such an exhibition of yourself? That bell and clog that you carry are not, believe me, orders of merit, but, on the contrary, marks of disgrace, a public notice to all men to avoid you as an ill-mannered dog."

Notoriety is often mistaken for fame

A lesson for not just a few people in the news today?

03 giugno - San Kevin di Glendalough