Tarnsman if you   wonder  what  sort of weapons I  may  have go to this site. I have a gladius on rt hip and tarn  knife on left hip  6ft4in 280 pounds.  .  I Own Roshay

A letter to the lost ... by Marcus of Ar

I sat online, reading the latest list of "Gorean" channels which had recently sprung up, surprised and baffled by some of their topic lines, and chuckling to myself.

Then I received a message from a slave whom I had known since I first logged onto IRC, one who had rivalled me in my knowledge of, and love of, all things Gorean.

The very girl who had sent me scrambling after the Gor books to add to my knowledge of that wonderful fictional place. She seemed to be upset, and angry, and very, very weary... she thanked me for "taking the time to listen to the words of a lost girl," for a lost girl she was. And she asked me a simple, honest question, and I felt my heart break as I sensed the depth of sadness in her words: "Master Marcus... [font f="" s="" c="#32cd32"]Where is Gor[/font]?" she asked.

For that nameless girl, and for all the other lost ones like her, I shall answer.

Where is Gor?

Is it to be found online, amidst the [url=http://www.buzzen.com/members/#][font f="" s="" c="#006600"]chatrooms[/font][/url], corkboards and message centers of the internet? Is it contained within a particular IRC channel, or chat service, or roleplaying room? Is it to be found on a website, are even upon all websites?

No, it cannot be found there. Not in any online venue, nor in every online venue, nor in all of the online venues put together. Not upon the entire internet, with its thousands upon thousands of server computers, with its millions of gigabytes of retrievable data. And if one were to illegally scan in every page of every book which John Norman ever wrote, and place them upon every server computer attached to the internet... Gor would still not be there.

Where is Gor?

Is it to be found within the celluloid frames of the movies which were created to tell its story? No, not there. The films which were created to tell the story of Gor were sad and laughable things, full of inconsistencies and devoid of the trappings and exuberance which fill the Gor books to bursting. The two films which were created, which supposedly dealt with the subject of Gor but which were actually just another attempt by filmmakers to cash in on the success of a rather popular series of science-fiction/fantasy books, were empty. They depicted the activities of people in some other place than Gor.

They were Xena, minus the tongue-in-cheek humor of that modern and highly successful syndicated program... they were BeastMaster and Deathstalker, but lacked even the dubious production values of those films, and the others which emulated them during the 1980's.

Don't look for Gor between the credits of either of the two supposed "Gor" films... because you won't find it there.

Where is Gor?

Is Gor to be discovered by memorizing passages of prose from the series of books which gave form to the Counter-Earth? Can it be squeezed and gleaned from websites which discuss the particulars of Gorean concepts, lifestyles and philosophy? Can it be unmasked and revealed through logging into a chat channel on the internet and typing in the right combination of phrases at the correct times, and in the correct order?

Never. Because Gor is bigger than all of that.

Because Gor, though replete with whips and chains and swords and collars, though filled with war and combat and the struggles of Men and their women, is not about any of that. It is about something else.

Gor is based upon love. Believe it or not.

That is the source of its greatness, and its strength. Gor is based upon the love which people can experience for their world, for their companions, and for their humanity. It is built upon the concept that men and women can love the truth, and that they can pursue that truth to its fullest extent.

Those who know Gor, know that in it are contained all expressions of the love for life, the love of beauty, the love of strength, the love of honor, even the love which a group of men can feel toward a simple stone.
Those who cannot understand that Gor can be loved, and lived, will never be able to understand its strength, its purity, and its majesty.

The planet Gor does not, and cannot, exist. But there are still those brave men and women who close their eyes and dream about it. In their imaginations they see the endless vistas of the green sa-tarna fields which dot that world, they behold the trackless crests of the mighty Voltai mountains, they smell the dust of the Plains of Turia and they feel the sweet clean air of another world upon their skin.

To such people, the Counter-Earth, though not a real place, is a true place. It is the stuff of myth. It is the Isle of Avalon; it is the Hidden Land under the Hollow Hills. It is the Faery Homeland of the Sidhe. It exists just beyond the borders of our waking world, ever ready to embrace those who dare to cross its boundaries and seek it, those who insist upon loving it for its own sake.

So, when you glance around you and feel cheated by the limitations of the internet and IRC, when you are appalled at the mess which has been made online and off by those who seek to emulate, but who can never understand, Gor, those who seem unable to simply love it for its own sake, never forget that Gor and the internet are not the same thing.

At such times, do not despair; simply pick up one of those Gor books and close yourself up in a quiet room, and begin to read. Let your imagination take flight to another place, a better place, a place of wonders and truth and sacrifice and the honest sweat and labor of men and women who are working together to create an eden upon the other side of the sun.

Read, and as you read, imagine that mankind can still be as innocent and as savage as it would be there, should Gor exist. Close your eyes and imagine that there could be Goreans, and that you might find your place among them. Perhaps the power of Gor is that we cannot attain it, except through our dreams.

We can strive to come closer to it, to understand it a bit better, and to immerse ourselves in the ebb and tide of Gorean interaction as it exists upon our world... but we cannot ever get there. It remains just beyond our reach, tantalizing us with glimpses of its honesty and beauty. But we cannot "make" Gor, not here upon Earth. Nor can we live *the* Gorean Lifestyle.

There is no single Gorean Lifestyle to be lived.

We can simply strive to live *a* Gorean Lifestyle, and attempt to find our own niche of Gorean simplicity, honor, and the love of life, here upon our own gray world. Simply look around you. When the endless bickering and name calling and pontificating becomes too much for you to bear, when it begins to drown out the truth of what Gor is, and how it is, and how we might strive to be worthy of it, turn away and seek it elsewhere. Find the books which teach us of it, and travel beyond the sun to another world. And learn to love Gor, not for what you can make of it, but for its own sake. That is where Gor is.

In the hearts and souls of those who truly love it, and who have come to understand it and appreciate it for its own sake, not because it has impregnated the particular online medium which they typically frequent.

One cannot find Gor in an IRC channel, or upon a website; one must seek it elsewhere, somewhere within oneself. The books are there to show you the way. They are the magic gateway you seek, which will reveal all of the triumph and despair and wonder of another, truer place.

Pass through that gateway and know that only there, within those pages, is the genuine article you search for.

There are good channels and poor ones, quality websites and foolish ones... but they are all things of Earth. To find Gor one must go beyond them, and look within oneself to discover whether or not one can love the Counter-Earth, for all of its faults and foibles.

To one who can do that, the endless insipidities of the online melieu fade into the background, and assume their correct position of importance, which is less than nothing when compared to the vastness and glory of the Counter Earth.

If you would know Gor, submerge yourself and give yourslf over to that fictional place. Imagine yourself among the denizens of that other world, and discover whether or not you can love it for its own sake, minus all of the ridiculous trappings of the internet and IRC.

The measure of how "Gorean" you are comes not from how well you can type words to a screen, nor how well established is your channel or how many flames you can type to castigate others. The true battle must be fought within.

Are you Gorean?
Do you really wish to be?
Could you be?
If you would be Gorean, learn to love Gor.

If you would live as a Gorean, learn to live with the same joy and earnest simplicity, and strength of heart, shared by the Goreans described in those books.

The millions of bytes of digital data being tossed around the bandwidth highways mean nothing to the Goreans, and should mean nothing to those who would emulate the Goreans. All of the retrievable memory on every computer in the world mean nothing when compared to the simplest stone in a summer garden. Pick up that stone and hold it, and know it to be real. Now pick up a handful of words, and weigh the two for yourself.

Gor is an idea, an ideal, a philosophical viewpoint; but it is also a real and discernable force in the lives of those who have embraced it, and love it. We are not measured for what we say; we are measured by who we are. The intricacies of the internet have little to do with it.

When next you wish to scream and rage at the indignities being heaped upon Gor upon the internet, simply recall that the internet is not connected to Gor.

It cannot touch, or effect, anything Gorean. Those who fail to understand what Gor is all about, and who fail to respect and appreciate what Gor signifies, are doomed to eternal disappointment. They choose their fate by refusing to seek Gor for what it is, to understand and commune with its spirit and philosophy. They would define it, and simplify it, and weaken it, to make the task of understanding it easier for themselves... when all the while, all they have to do is simply find and read the Gor books and learn to love Gor. And if they cannot do that, then they would be better served by seeking some other goal, one within their abilities and easier for them to grasp.

When I am assailed by those who insist upon tearing out their hair in great handfuls at some recent rash of online idiocy, I simply have to laugh. I cannot help myself. I see people screaming that the ship is sinking, when the reason they boarded that ship in the first place was to seek the ocean. And while the ship may sink, the ocean remains, unchanged. One has only to stroll down the beach to the water's edge to find it; one has only to swim in it to understand it, and to learn that perhaps one need not fear it at all.

Gor is there. It will always be there, for those who wish to seek it. And to do so, they need only purchase a book and visit it.

The often rampant silliness of IRC, and the various channels of half-baked pseudo Goreans, will pass away in time, perhaps to be replaced by another group of would-be Goreans who seem to think that Gor exists within the tiny databits which pass between computers.

It doesn't matter, though. Mixed in among such people, there will always be those who know and understand that Gor is not a thing of computers and typed commands. And while we can communicate with one another in a thousand different ways, it is those who love Gor who will determine how best that can be accomplished. The internet can be made to serve Gor; but Gor does not exist to serve the internet. It is far, far bigger than that.

Love Gor. Do not attempt to change it. Do not attempt to explain it away. Do not attempt to capture it and own it for yourself, because that is foolish vanity. Simply love it. And treasure those books, so that if you ever wish to experience Gor in its truest form, you can do so simply by diving in and taking a swim in it. And washing yourself clean of the lies and poisons, and the computer driven agendas, of Earth and its misguided inhabitants.

You may encounter me there, splashing around and enjoying myself immensely. If you do, and you ever feel yourself slipping beneath the waves for the third time, simply extend your hand, and it will be taken by myself, and by others who love Gor for its own sake, who will gladly keep you afloat as you come to know and understand the power of the sea in which we all swim... the sea of living, and the love of beauty, and simplicity, and truth. You will have found Gor.

I wish you well.

And I, and those like me, shall continue to do all we can to find the lost ones, and bring them home.

_Marcus_


I hope you all enjoy reading this as much as I did, and that it helps you to regain your perspective of Gor and remember it is in our hearts.. not in the online interpretations of those who would judge us.

I wish you all well,

Marcus of AR
[/font]

I am older R/L I do not type fast so my responses will be slow , I am here to r/p   My im is  Gor My  whisper box is Gor   if you wish to speak OOC then  state so   in my whisper box  then and only then if I think you are worth my time I will give you my Phone number and you can call me  for safety reasons of your self   you may that way block  your number or I will ask you to add my personal im for I see you all as a Fantasy   and that's exactly what you are to me Fantasy ....NOT REAL....till I see the whites of your eyes and then  I may have my doubts.]I am gor  slaves dont come with  a profile that says  if found displeaseing  contact my master @ such and such if I find you displeasing ill deliver your head to him   and ask for payment for damages
A Hitchhiker's guide to online Gor
If you are new to Gor online, the odds are that eventually you will stumble into one of the thousands of play rooms that occupy cyber space. For those who want to learn about the Gorean lifestyle and not just some cyber role playing fantasy, it can be difficult to distinguish one from the other without a frame of reference. Here are a few "red flags" to watch for.....

You know you're *NOT* in a Gorean room when....


Slaves are told to "karta" on entering.
(There is no such thing as "karta")

People speak in Kassar... "jashi, nidan, etc"
(Kassar is a RPG invention. Norman never gave us a Gorean language... Kassar has as much relevance to Gor as Pig Latin)

Slaves are addressed as "lil ones"
(kajirae are adult women, not children or midgets)

da slaves talk like dis and call each other "sissy"
(see above)

FC's greet each other with "Tal, Love" and a *huggle*
(This is an adult lifestyle... not some cutesy cuddly high school prom)

"Sweetening" of cyber drinks
(a rather disgusting "online" invention.. cyber masturbation)

When a slave is corrected, at least three Free leap to her defense.
(Any free person has the right to correct a slave without interference)

The room rules state "slaves are treated with respect."
(The free are treated respectfully *by* slaves... we do not revere or respect property)

E/everyO/one  S/speaks L/like T/this
(Lazy, not to mention annoying)

The tavern girls all have fantasy pics on their profiles.
(One of the basic tenets of Gor is "Be who you are"..not a fantasy)

Slaves are only required to offer service to those they deem Gorean or only to men.
(Selective slavery has no place in Gor. Gorean slaves are to be pleasing to all of the free. Period.)

At least half the slaves in the room have this on their profile... "If you have a problem with this girl, take it up with Master so and so."
(Almost every book states that any slave can be corrected or punished by any free person who finds her displeasing)

Slaves are offered protection.
(No such thing on Gor. Slaves are subject to *all* of the free)

Slaves are offered "training collars"
(Again, no such thing in Gor. Tavern collars or personal collars. A slave is either owned or she is not)

Panthergirls lounging around, swilling paga.
(Panthers ran away from Gorean society. They have no place in the lifestyle. Only roleplay.)

FW bouncing slaves on their laps.
(FW used slaves as servants, usually treated with disdain. They did not make sexual use of female slaves. Any sexual contact with male slaves was private)

Every serve is followed by the slave being fed candy, patted on the head, and voluminous words of praise.
(They're slaves, not poodles)

The room boasts a "first sword"
(A military term, has no relevance to an online tavern)

The acronyms "NKZ, NCZ,KZ, NFCZ " are in the room title
(Killing, capturing, and forcing anyone to do anything online is virtually impossible. If you need to be told that, you do not have a firm grip on reality.)

uncollared slaves or FW are force-collared
(see above)

Open scening is encouraged (including cyber whippings)
(Pretty good indicator that the room is about cybersex,  and psychodrama, not Gor)

People speak of *ko-lars* and  *Urth*
(online affectations)

The owner calls himself Ubar
(Ubar = War Chief,  only elected in times of conflict)

They serve white ka-la-na in crystal goblets on silver trays
(It's Gor, not a tea party)

The room has *combat rules*
(Pure role play)

Taverns or Inns owned, opened or monitored by slaves.
(Slaves own nothing and do not have the authority to make or enforce rules over the free)

There are many people who claim the label of *Gorean* without a clue as to what that means. There are those who simply play the role of warrior or slave online, and there are those who make it up as they go along, choosing to twist Gor into what they wish it to be instead of what it is.

So what is a new person to do?

There is no easy path to the Gorean lifestyle. It is work. Learning, studying and honest examination of your own self. READ THE BOOKS. I can't stress that strongly enough. The source material is the best way to learn. And the more you learn, the more you discover of the truths, the easier it will be for you to discern who is true.... from who is truly full of shit.

Don't rely on what others tell you until you know enough to figure out if they know what they're talking about.

Choose carefully where you travel in online Gor...If all you seek is to pretend to be something you're not, to play a role, there are dozens of places where you can indulge your fantasy.

However, if something within the ideals of Gor strikes a chord in you... if you wish to find others who actually embrace this lifestyle on earth... You will only find them once you've learned enough to recognize them as they pass quickly through the playrooms..... on their way to Gorean rooms.

Enjoy the journey...


[b]The Evolution of a Gorean[/b]
 
It's like a whisper.
 
"Pssssstttt.....yes, you.... come closer."
 
It tugs at some place deep inside you. So you watch. Who are these people? These Goreans. What is it about them that makes them somehow... different? The atmosphere is different. There is a calm... a sense of order not seen in other places. You leave thinking, "I wonder how they manage that?"
 
You return to your old haunts... the rooms full of chit chat. The familiar scroll seems too fast now... too... full of shallow words. These people, these friends seem so ... frivolous, so silly. Strange, where once you felt comfortable and at ease, now you feel... unsettled. The inside jokes, the "cutesy" expressions all seem so tiresome and trite. You've had a glimpse of something... deeper. The more time you spend in the places you've always gone, the worse it gets. You find the constant inane chatter annoying now. You find yourself becoming irritated over things you would've laughed at before
 
Eventually, you get back into the swing of things. That feeling of unease fades to a dull twinge every once in a while. Until one day, someone enters the room. The entire tone of the room changes. It is as if it slows... calms. You can feel all eyes turned to the newcomer. The quiet that settles over the room with his presence. With a gesture or a word, those who were loud and boisterous suddenly are a bit... respectful. You recognize him. He is Gorean.
 
As soon as he leaves, the room quickly returns to the normal chatter. Only you do not join in. It is back... that feeling of unease. In this place where you have spent countless hours talking and laughing and sharing, you suddenly feel like an intruder. You do not belong here. But, if not here... where?
 
Again, the whisper, "Psssssttt... come back."
 
You return to that place... that Gor, and sit quietly. You watch these "Goreans" interact. Even when disagreeing there is some unspoken bond between them. They are Gorean. As each newcomer enters, within minutes it is quickly discerned whether they are Gorean or stranger. Somehow... they recognize each other. They just know.
 
You begin to read in between visits. Eager to know more of this thing called Gor. And each time you log on, you find yourself looking for those taverns and places Gorean. The more you learn, the more comfortable you feel, and yet... you still feel like a child with his nose pressed to the glass. You spend time there, but... you are still on the outside looking in. Consumed with a burning need to know more, you scour used bookstores in search of the "scrolls." You search the web, hungry to learn, to know. You watch and study and absorb all that you can.
 
What is it? What is that secret "something" that makes a person Gorean? Is it the words, the terminology? You know the difference between a kajira and a Kaiila. You recognize the cities like Ar and Turia. You even get some of the Gorean jokes. You are beginning to fit in. People greet you when you enter. (You secretly get a thrill each time a slave calls you "Master.") They accept you, converse with you, and yet... there is still that distance. That silent knowledge that no matter how much time you spend there you are still... a visitor. Oh, you may call yourself Gorean, but each time you say the words, you feel a guilty twinge in side and you hear that whisper.
 
"Liar..."
 
Back to the books. There must be some... thing... some one important passage that explains it all. You just need to find it. So, this time you read. Really read all of the books instead of skipping the "boring" parts or the "girl" books. You begin to see that behind the warriors and the beautiful slave girls there is an underlying theme in Norman's work. This "natural order of things." They're not just love stories about men and women, but love for nature, respect for the truth. Ok... so now you understand.
 
You return to Gor, armed with this knowledge. You burn to BE Gorean. Everywhere you go, you speak of Gor. There is a need to share this passion awakened in you. You find yourself quoting chapter and verse from the scrolls. There is a quote to fit every situation. You hardly have to think about it anymore, they simply spring to your lips. You enter a tavern and are served. To be honest, you don't notice the typos she makes because you're so distracted with this talk of nipples and "slave heat." You look down at the girl at your feet, almost giddy with the feeling of power. You think, "Wait till the guys at the office hear about this! Oh, yeah.... I am Gorean."
 
Again the whisper comes... "Liar."
 
Well, damnit. You've read the books twice. You know the terms and phrases by heart. You can boss around the slaves with the best of them. You know and understand the principles of honor and slavery. What is missing? Ok, so some of them are a bit extreme. Like that guy who whipped a girl for bringing him Ka-la-na instead of paga. You know the books say he has that right, but hell, cut the girl some slack. And the way she just threw herself at his feet as if her very life depended on bringing him the right drink. What is it about this place? What are you just not "getting?" You know the rules, the accepted codes of behavior. You behave when you are here as if you are Gorean. What are you missing?
 
You read some more. You go about your life, each day learning and absorbing a little more of this place called Gor. Then, perhaps one day you are in the bank and some mouthy girl is rude to you. You immediately think, "insolent slut!" and a picture springs to mind of her naked in chains at your feet. A smile of recognition spreads slowly across your face. You hold her gaze and speak firmly to her and she responds. Her eyes lower and her voice drops to a whispered apology.  In that moment, it becomes clear to you. It is not enough to know or to understand the principles that Norman set down. You must accept them as true. Accept them as your own. Take your place in the natural order of things. You remember that man who quieted a roomful of giggling subbies with a glance and you know. Gor is not a place you go to when you read a book or turn on your computer. It is not put away when you return to your "real life." Gor is carried in your heart every minute of every day. Gor is not where you go or what you do. Gor is who you are.
 
You hear the whisper one last time... "Yes... you are Gorean."
[i] [/i]
[i]"It is a genetic expectation," I told her, "more ancient than the caves, a whisper in your brain bespeaking a lost world of nature, a world in which the human being, both male and female, were bred. You were fitted to one world; you found yourself in another. You were a stranger in a country not of your choosing, a troubled guest, uneasy in a house you knew was not yours."

"I fear my feelings," she said.

"They hint to you of nature's world," I told her. "They are inimical to the machine."

"I must fight them," she said.

"They are reminiscence," I said, "of a vanished reality. They whisper of old songs. The machine has not been able to eradicate them from your brain. Such feelings, in their genetic foundations, lie at the root of women, and of men. They antedate the taming of the fire. They were ancient when the first stone knife was lifted to the sun."

"I must fight them," she said.

"Fight yourself then," I said, "for it is your deepest self for which they speak."[/i]
Beasts of Gor..... pg 202

[font f="Courier" s="5" c="#008000"][b]I did not know why I had set the beacon, but I had done so.
It had burned long and fiery in the Gorean night, on the stones of the beach, and then, in the morning it would have been ashes, and the winds and rains would have scattered them, and there would have been little left, save the stones, the sand and the prints of the feet of sea birds, tiny, like the thief’s brand, in the sand. But it would once have burned, and that was fixed, undeniable, a part of what had been, that it had burned; nothing could change that, not the eternities of time, not the will of Priest-Kings, the machinations of others, the wilfulness  and hatred of men; nothing could change that it had been, that once on the beach, there, a beacon had burned.
I wondered how men should live. In my chair, I had thought long on such matters.
I knew only that I did not know the answer to this question. Yet it is an important question, is it not? Many wise men give wise answers to this question, and yet they do not agree among themselves.
Only the simple, the fools, the unreflective, the ignorant, know the answer to this question.
Perhaps to a question this profound, the answer cannot be known. Perhaps it is a question too deep to be answered. Yet we do know there are false answers to such a question. This suggests that there may be a true answer, for how can there be falsity without truth?
One thing seems clear to me, that a morality which produces guilt and self-torture, which results in anxiety and agony, which shortens lifespans, cannot be the answer.
But what is not mistaken?
The Goreans have very different notions of morality from those of Earth.
Yet who is to say who is the more correct?
I envy sometimes the simplicities of those of Earth, and those of Gor, who, creatures of their conditioning, are untroubled by such matters, but I would not be s either of them.  If either should be correct, it is for them no more than a lucky coincidence. They would have fallen into truth, but to take truth for granted, is not to know it. Truth not won is not possessed. We are not entitled to truths for which we have not fought.
Do we not know learn by living, as we learn to speak by speaking, to paint by painting, to build by building?
Those who best know how to live, sometimes it seems to me, are those least likely to be articulate in such skills. It is not that they have not learned, but, having learned, they find they cannot tell what they know, for only words can be told, and what is learned in living is more than words, other than words beyond words.  We can say, "This building is beautiful," but we do not learn the beauty of the building from the words; the building it is which teaches us its beauty; and how can one speak the beauty of the building, as it is? Does one say it has so many pillars, that it has a roof of a certain type, and such? Can one simply say. "The building is beautiful?" Yes, one can say that but what one learns when one sees the beauty of the building cannot be spoken; it is not words; it is the buildings beauty.
The morality of Earth, from the Gorean point of view, is a morality which would be viewed as more appropriate to slaves than free men. It would be seen in terms of the envy and resentment of inferiors for their superiors. It lays great stress on equalities and being humble and being pleasant and avoiding friction and being ingratiating and small. It is a morality in the best interest of slaves, who would be only too eager to be regarded as the equals of others.  We are all the same. That is the hope of slaves; that is what it is in their best interests to convince others of. The Gorean morality on the other hand is more one of inequalities, based on the assumption that individuals are not the same, but quite different in many ways. It might be said to be, though this is oversimple, a morality of masters. Guilt is almost unknown in Gorean morality, though shame and anger are not. Many Earth moralities encourage resignation and accommodation: Gorean morality is bent more towards conquest and defiance; many Earth  moralities encourage tenderness, pity and gentleness, sweetness; Gorean morality encourages honor,  courage, hardness and strength. To Gorean morality, many Earth moralities might ask." Why so hard?’. To these Earth  moralities, the Gorean ethos might ask, "Why so soft?’
I have sometimes thought that the Goreans might do well to learn something of tenderness, and, perhaps, that those of Earth might do well to learn something of hardness. But I do not know how to live. I have sought the answers, but I have not found them.  The morality of slaves says. "You are equal to me; we are both the same"; the morality of  masters says. " We are not equal; we are not the same; become equal to me; then we will be the same." The morality of slaves reduces all to bondage; the morality of masters encourages all to attain, if they can, the heights of freedom. I know of no prouder, more self-reliant, more magnificent creature than the free Gorean, male or female: they are often touchy, and viciously tempered, but they are seldom petty or small: moreover they do not hate and fear their bodies or their instincts; when they restrain themselves it is a victory over  titanic forces; not the consequence of a slow metabolism; but sometimes they do not restrain themselves; they do not assume that their instincts and blood are enemies and spies, saboteurs in the house of themselves; they know them and welcome them as part of their persons; they are as little suspicious of them  as the cat of its cruelty, or the lion of its hunger; their desire for vengeance, their will to speak out and defend themselves, their lust, they regard as intrinsically and gloriously a portion of themselves as their thinking or their hearing.  Many Earth moralities make people little; the object of Gorean morality, for all its faults, is to make people free and great. These objectives are quiet different it is clear to see. Accordingly, one would expect  that the implementing moralities would, also be considerably different.
I sat in the darkness and thought on these things. There were no maps for me.
I, Tarl Talbot, or Bosk of Port Kar, was torn between worlds.
I did not know how to live.
I was bitter.
But the Goreans have a saying, which came to me in the darkness, in the hall,  "Do not ask the stones or the trees how to live; they cannot tell you; they do not have tongues; do not ask the wise man how to live, for, if he knows, he will know he cannot tell you; if you would learn how to live, do not ask the question; its answer is not in the question but in the answer, which is not in words; do not ask how to live, but, instead, proceed to do so."
I do not fully understand this saying. How, for example, can one proceed to do what one doers not know how to do?  The answer,  I suspect, is that the Gorean belief is that one does, truly,  in some way, know how to live, though one may not know that one knows.  The knowledge is regarded as being somehow within one.  Perhaps it is regarded as being somehow innate, or a function of instincts.  I do not know. The saying may also be interpreted as encouraging one to act, to behave, to do and then, in the acting, the doing, the behaving, to learn.  These two interpretations, of course, are not incompatible.  The child, one supposes, has  the innate disposition, when a certain  maturation level is attained, to struggle to its feet and walk, as it did to crawl, when an earlier level was attained, and yet it truly learns to crawl and to walk and then to run, only in the crawling, in the walking and running.
The refrain ran through my mind. "Do not ask how to live, but, instead, proceed to do so"
But how could I live, I, a cripple, huddled in the chair of a captain, in a darkened hall?
I was rich, but I envied the meanest herder of verr, the lowest peasant scattering dung in his furrows, for they could move as they pleased.
I tried to clench my left fist. But the hand did not move.
How should one live?
In the codes of the warriors, there is  a saying, "Be strong, and do as you will. The swords of others will set your limits."
I had been one of the finest swordsmen on Gor. But now I could not move the left side of my body.
But I could still command steel, that of my men, who, for no reason I understood, they Goreans, remained true to me, loyal to a cripple, confined to a captain’s chair in a darkened hall.
I was grateful to them, but I would show them nothing of this, for I was a captain.
They must not be demeaned.
"Within the circle of each man’s sword," say the codes of the warrior, "therein is each man a Ubar"
"Steel is the coinage of the warrior," say the codes, "With it he purchases what pleases him"


"I thought, for a moment," she said, "looking into your eyes that they were the sort of eyes before which a woman fears that the lineaments of her features, even though veiled, may be clear to him under whose observation she finds herself. Indeed, she fears, as his eyes imperiously, casually, rove over her, that her beauty and needs, in spite of the intervening robes, the intervening layers of cloth, may be exposed as helplessly to him as those of a slave girl."[/b][/font]