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Ben Stein's Diary
Fleeting Beauty
It’s always something.
FRIDAY
Here I am at the Peninsula Hotel in Chicago. Did I tell you I was
on the same floor as the Lakers and also, on a separate mission,
Matt Damon? Anyway, I am. I met a whole bunch of Laker people on
the elevator. I was amazed to learn that they had no curfew. “We
try to assume they are grown-ups and will act like grown-ups,” said
one of their coaches (not Phil Jackson ).
This hotel is truly phenomenally comfortable. I strongly recommend it to anyone who needs to stay in the Windy City. It is a bit expensive, but it may be as good a hotel as I have ever encountered.
I got up this morning and betook myself to a place called “The Casino Club,” where I met a group of about 150 extremely, and I mean, EXTREMELY, successful businessmen, investors, entrepreneurs, and industrialists. Wow, as I moved among them and heard their stories, I was just flabbergasted at how successful they are.
It is amazing to me how many different nooks and crannies there are in the economy, and if you make money in one of them, you often have the skills to make money in another of them and then maybe a whole lot more of them.
My host, a handsome, genial fellow named Jay Jordan, seems to own about half of the businesses on the planet. The man on my left, a Mr. Joe Steinberg, seems to own the other half. They were both super chatty and friendly. Interestingly enough, they were both pals of my old nemesis, Michael R. Milken. They spoke so glowingly about him, though, that I could not bring myself to disagree. He had raised money for them, helped them get deals done, seemingly behaved ex-tremely well toward them, although he had been a fierce negotiator.
I suppose that if Mr. Milken had helped me to become a successful businessman, I would be fond of him, too. Maybe even very fond.
Life is personal, and not political, as Wlady said long ago. Life is also personal and not theoretical. If people help you, you like them. Long, long ago, a truly great writer named Herbert Gold, author of one of the best novels I have ever read, Swifty the Magician, said, “If a man chooses truth over his father, that man is a fool.” I am sure that if a man chooses some minor quibble about bond default rates over his friends, he is also making a mistake.
The more I think about it, the more convinced I am that truth is relative. There is a great story about Jesus before Pilate in the New Testament. Pilate says that Jesus has been saying he’s the King of the Jews. Jesus says that’s not so, that he’s only been saying what he believes in, and that’s the truth.
Pilate replies, in a highly poeticized version not word for word what is in the Bible, “But what is truth? Is it unchanging law? We all have truths. Are mine the same as yours?”
(This is from the brilliant musical, Jesus Christ Superstar. In the New Testament, I believe, “jesting” Pilate simply asks, “What is truth?”)
In any event, the event went extremely well and the audience was super-smart, as you would expect. There were truly fabulously rich people there like the Pritzkers, real estate titans; Lester Crown, immense industrialist; Ken Griffin, billionaire hedge fund genius; and other hugely affluent people. I feel gratified that they considered listening to me worthy of their time and attention.
I really hope I can stay in touch with Jay. He impresses me, and even though he’s a bit younger than I am, I feel as if I could learn a lot from him.
They are rich, but are they happy? I don’t know but they sure looked happy. I am not sure I have ever seen a happier-looking group of men. Money is not enough by itself to make people happy, but these people sure do look assured, and that is a part of happy. A big part.
Anyway, off to ORD. I stopped once inside the airport, as usual, at the Prairie Tap, a fine bar/restaurant between the H and K gates at American, and I had a steak sandwich. It was beyond good. If truth be told, if I had not been embarrassed to do so, I would have had two. That’s how good they are. I am sure they are bad for me, but do they ever taste good.
Then off to the gate for a long wait for our delayed flight. The only seats were for handicapped. Four slovenly-looking young men just blithely took them and lounged on them. Maddening.
About the Author
Ben Stein is a writer, actor, economist, and lawyer living in Beverly Hills and Malibu. He writes “Ben Stein’s Diary” for every issue of The American Spectator.
Letter to the Editor View all comments (64) | Leave a comment
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Roscoe| 2.23.11 @ 8:30AM
It must be tough on a writer, when that writer's inspiration finally leaves him for good.
Dan Hirsch| 2.23.11 @ 8:56AM
Roscoe,
In my experience some human beings perform better on some days than on others. Maybe you haven't experienced this, yet.
Tomas| 2.23.11 @ 4:57PM
I love reading Ben's Diary. It's so refreshing to have, presented to us in such a charming fashion, those tiny moments in life that make us smile, and know we are truly blessed.
In this world of anger and hate, I want to thank you, Ben, for keeping the flag of civility flying high.
God bless.
-
Cabby - AZ| 2.24.11 @ 1:53PM
What is it about Ben's diary that makes me gravitate to it before reading some political article? (And I am a political animal) Well, I guess the human touch is heartwarming, and, besides, I like Ben even though I don't know him, except through his writings.
His anecdotes are refreshing, and I think that we all somewhat like to read the inner musings of another, for whom we have respect.
I also like to see ads in which Ben is featured!
j d| 2.23.11 @ 10:17AM
Close cover before striking match.
Kickipoo| 2.23.11 @ 10:41AM
Keep up the good work, Ben. Your diary entries are riveting! Absolutely riveting!
Lexter| 2.23.11 @ 10:26AM
A Nehi Grape and a Moonpie and a Dixie Moon
Hester| 2.23.11 @ 10:28AM
Does anyone know the way to San Jose?
G| 2.23.11 @ 10:31AM
It was on Sunset Boulevard around six p.m. when I saw it.
ninety-nine| 2.23.11 @ 10:37AM
Or was it Rodeo (row DAY oh) drive? Which was it?
jackson| 2.23.11 @ 10:35AM
Nothing, thank you. I have plenty.
mames| 2.23.11 @ 10:54AM
I Ben Ok? This is a truly disjointed ramble. Placing subjective relationships over the truth? Letting the NBA goons loose all night is alright? Failing to speak truth in the face of lies? Misquoting the Bible?
Alan Brooks| 2.23.11 @ 8:28PM
Stein ought to retire, he is an insult to the Judaic tradition: Stein is almost enough to make one place a portrait of Eva Braun in one's living room.
We should apologize to every Arab nation for the existence of Stein.
Alan Brooks| 2.23.11 @ 11:06PM
...and Stein quotes Jesus before Pontius?
Stein is a meatball, one of the tubby guys in class who talk about everything they did at summer camp.
No wonder anti-semitism exists, magazine readers think those such as Stein represent Jews.
Occam's Tool| 7.14.11 @ 6:25PM
Alan, that's a bit asshatted. Stein is an annoying Putz, at times, but to blame him for anti-semitism is a bit much, and the Eva Braun picture comparison was obnoxious.
Occam's Tool| 2.24.11 @ 12:38PM
Just read Ben Stein's March 2011 article. Ben is, as usual, an idiot on things psychiatric. If he had actually LOOKED at the research literature, he would have seen that active duty soldiers, for reasons of stigma and promotion, do their best to AVOID psychiatric intervention, including antidepressants, on return from war zones. The broad use of antidepressants lowers suicide rates, it does not increase them. Thanks, Ben, for disseminating your disinformation and contributing to the DEATHS of our Vets. You disgust me beyond measure.
old white guy| 2.24.11 @ 3:56PM
you are stupid.
Bill| 2.23.11 @ 9:19AM
When it comes to Herbert Gold, I always liked The Man Who Was Not With It. As I near my dotage, I sometimes think of myself as that man.
Oolong| 2.23.11 @ 10:17AM
Watch the gap.
y| 2.23.11 @ 10:38AM
It's a huge gap. You'd better watch it.
William| 2.23.11 @ 10:49AM
Are you talking about the gap between intention and effect.
At AmSpec there's a huge gap between intention and effect. Ben Stein, for example.
Bill| 2.23.11 @ 2:40PM
I used to have a girlfriend who encouraged me to plug that gap. I did my best.
Yoko| 2.23.11 @ 8:21PM
You plugged her posterior gap, I imagine.
Bill| 2.24.11 @ 9:11AM
Don't let your imagination run away with you.
Merlin| 2.23.11 @ 9:26AM
IMO truth is NOT relative. Pilot asked "What is truth?" Jesus had answered earlier. "I am the way, the truth and the life . . ."
Is the GOD who has protected you (and me) the truth?
Thanks for sharing so much of your life over the years.
Bobo| 2.23.11 @ 10:19AM
Slippery when wet.
Nar Sis| 2.23.11 @ 10:39AM
He's wet all right.
Roxanne| 2.23.11 @ 10:28AM
Only 43 more shopping days
roadmaster| 2.23.11 @ 9:35AM
I miss my Cadillac, but the wife won't let me buy another one as long as they're made by Gubmint Motors.
T Young| 2.23.11 @ 10:22AM
A rose is a rose is a rose
JayCee| 2.23.11 @ 9:38AM
When Pontius Pilate asked Jesus 'What is Truth?', like you, Ben Stein, he didn't recognise that the absolute Truth was standing right in front of him.
And, as for seeking beauty, it appears you assume beauty is to be found only on the surface. Seek the Truth first and then you will encounter a beauty that lasts forever. In the immortal lines of John Keats;
'Beauty is truth, truth beauty,—that is all
Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.'
Max| 2.23.11 @ 10:23AM
Do not throw paper towels in . . . I forgot what I was gonna say . . .
roadmaster| 2.23.11 @ 9:40AM
I certainly do not miss driving in So. Cal, even though it's not as bad as Seattle or Portland. NYC, Boston, Chicago, Denver and Atlanta blow big, green chunks, too.
Natalie| 2.23.11 @ 10:25AM
The best of times is now
What's left of summer is a faded rose
Jay| 2.23.11 @ 10:30AM
And it's one two three strikes you're out at the . . .
Can't recall what comes next . . .
Can anyone complete it for me?
Uniformity| 2.23.11 @ 10:33AM
at the oncology clinic?
U. Win| 2.23.11 @ 10:40AM
at the dialysis center?
Reinard| 2.23.11 @ 10:52AM
What a waste ofmy time. I used to enjoy your comments Ben, but lately all you seem to write about is how interesting and successful your life is.
Not all that interested....
gearjammer| 2.23.11 @ 11:30AM
Ben needs to slow down and stay in one place for more than a few hours, and then only confined to the complex and ambiance of some lavish hotel. When I am bummed out I get dressed and go to a fancy hotel and have a drink or two, and soak in all the yummy atmospherics of the moment. Yes, people are better looking and dressed in these places, and seem rather happy and content. It makes me wish I had worked hard at being rich. I guess these folks are the winners. But, Ben it is not just soldiers who allow them to live this way, and I am a Vietnam vet, but a middle class across the board that does a lot of the real and necessary work in America. A middle class that knows a lot of the rich are over rated, over paid frauds. Yet, we do not join the ranks of the socialists, haters of the successful. But, I assure you Ben, we really wonder if we need to find some sane way to take down our current crop of " best and brightest". Tell these high fliers they had best find a way for the eagle to shit jobs and prosperity for the middle class, or else we will blow them out of the sky. The hostile fire will not be coming from the left.
Occam's Tool| 2.23.11 @ 4:56PM
I've also been in the Peninsula Hotel. So what? I used to own a Caddy until I discovered that it was an overpriced hunk of steel that I didn't enjoy, and wan't as reliable as, my GMC. And, if you like steak, Ben, for G-d's sake go to a Ruth's Chris rather than an airport restaurant.
Ben, talk about something other than name dropping crap, please. And about the dangerousness of psychiatry, you Scientology wannabe.
Pegasus| 2.23.11 @ 12:26PM
Ben is attempting to be ironic, but he lacks the imagination and the verbal skills.
His pedestrian prose is so dull, so tiresome, but he's the editor, and he can insult his readers with impunity.
Hey, Ben. Show a little respect for your readers.
Steve A| 2.23.11 @ 1:17PM
gearjammer, You are pathetic. It is not the "job" of the "best & brightest" to provide you with a freakin job. If you are not happy with your lot, get off your ass & do something about it & quit threatining those who have. Otherwise, save your threats.
Steve A| 2.23.11 @ 1:18PM
gearjammer, You are pathetic. It is not the "job" of the "best & brightest" to provide you with a freakin job. If you are not happy with your lot, get off your ass & do something about it & quit threatining those who have. Otherwise, save your threats.
Steve A| 2.23.11 @ 1:18PM
gearjammer, You are pathetic. It is not the "job" of the "best & brightest" to provide you with a freakin job. If you are not happy with your lot, get off your ass & do something about it & quit threatening those who have. Otherwise, save it.
Steve A| 2.23.11 @ 1:18PM
gearjammer, You are pathetic. It is not the "job" of the "best & brightest" to provide you with a freakin job. If you are not happy with your lot, get off your ass & do something about it & quit threatening those who have. Otherwise, save it.
gearjammer| 2.23.11 @ 1:44PM
You do not comprehend jackoff. I am self employed and always have been and have carried a small payroll. I contend we have a fraud overrated and over paid elite in the country.They are unchecked and avoid any sane rules of true free market compensation-Adam Smith would be laughing his ass off at the notion of the " STARS " of television and and hollywood being examples of pure capitalism at work. Same for a lot of what goes on in Wall Street, and let us not even mention some of the scam windfalls for trial lawyers, usually in conjunction with democrats in congress, in the white house or on the bench. These frauds are overpaid via their special connections as they give money and otherwise support politicians. Another words just as unions can get special treatment and better deals from politicians to gain compensation that violates free market principles, so do many of our super rich. How many are making big money from the green energy scam ? Plenty, start with Al Gore. I don't care how much ya make as long as it is on the up and up. You need to temper your nasty, Scrooge like attitude. Your disdain for people in need of work and more money. Otherwise we will crush-I say again it won't come from the left. Start rethinking the concept of a social contract.
Strudwick Wickerwire| 2.23.11 @ 2:39PM
A Jew can't belong to a hoity-toity country club in Indian Wells???!!! That indignity should be left solely and exclusively for "left-wing community organizers," those who pass themselves off as the purveyors of south-side pseudo economics dedicated to the failed concept of wealth redistribution!!!
Bill| 2.23.11 @ 2:44PM
When Groucho Marx's daughter wanted to go swimming with one of her friends at the Beverly Hills Country Club, they told her that they didn't allow Jews to join the club or use the facilities. Groucho wrote to the membership committed and asked: "My daugher is half Jewish; can she just go into the pool up to her waist?"
Strudwick Wickerwire| 2.23.11 @ 2:49PM
And I bet if Groucho had pulled-up the committees shirt collars and looked at the labels it would have said "pure defecation."
old white guy| 2.24.11 @ 4:01PM
who gives a s-it. my father in law refused to join an exclisive club that would not let jews in. they had asked him to join. was wealthy. they needed the money. he had several successful jewish people working with him. end of story.
Occam's Tool| 7.14.11 @ 6:22PM
Your Dad sounds like a Mensch.
Occam's Tool| 7.14.11 @ 6:23PM
Sorry. Father in Law.
Stormzeye| 2.23.11 @ 4:24PM
Ben, your gratitude is a recurring theme. It is certainly understandable given the fact that your observations and insights do not warrant a paycheck under any circumstances. Please stop before you bring this publication down any further.
pnmnm| 2.23.11 @ 6:37PM
If truth is relative, Ben, God is anybody or anything you want him to be instead of I AM.
Trey Henry| 2.24.11 @ 9:11AM
Mr. Stein,
I write to you in respect- I read everything you write at the Spectator, because I think you are a highly intelligent man with an enlightening approach to public speech, entertainment, and writing.
That is why I am confused about something you say in this article.
You say,
"There is a great story about Jesus before Pilate in the New Testament. Pilate says that Jesus has been saying he's the King of the Jews. Jesus says that's not so, that he's only been saying what he believes in, and that's the truth."
I checked the New Testament.
All 4 Gospel authors (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) record this event.
Here are the excerpts I found from each of those:
Matthew (chapter 27, verse 11): Now Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor questioned Him, saying, "Are You the King of the Jews?" And Jesus said to him, "It is as you say."
Mark (chapter 15, verse 2): Pilate questioned Him, "Are You the King of the Jews?" And He answered him, "It is as you say."
Luke (chapter 23, verse 3): So Pilate asked Him, saying, "Are You the King of the Jews?" And He answered him and said, "It is as you say."
John (chapter 18, verses 33-38):
33Therefore Pilate entered again into the Praetorium, and summoned Jesus and said to Him, “Are You the King of the Jews?” 34Jesus answered, “Are you saying this on your own initiative, or did others tell you about Me?” 35Pilate answered, “I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests delivered You to me; what have You done?” 36Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm.” 37Therefore Pilate said to Him, “So You are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say [correctly*] that I am a king. For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.” 38Pilate said to Him, “What is truth?”
Mr. Stein, you're one of the smartest men in America. What has kept you thus far from being one of the wisest- but doesn't have to continue to limit you- is a belief that all truth might be relative. There is some of what people call truth that is more relative, some less relative, and some that is more absolute, and some that is what it is, because it is real, absolute truth.
I hope you will consider this, consider truth, and do better than Pilate. I hope you even do better than Agrippa (another man who was faced with the truth-check the book of Acts), who said, perhaps somewhat mockingly to Saint Paul,
"In a short time you will persuade me to become a Christian."
Like Paul before Agrippa, I wish to God you might.
Though hurt by the words attacking truth, I remain your faithful reader, because I do believe that a lot of what you write is often true.
Please feel free to take time to write here or if you feel it would be more adequate, via e-mail.
Respectfully,
Trey Henry
_
*understood
brackets mine- texts from NASB, Bible.cc
ari| 2.24.11 @ 1:43PM
Well, I liked it. Keep writing. it's a slice of a world that I don't belong to, and I'm glad I got to go along with you and see the best parts.
old white guy| 2.24.11 @ 3:57PM
did anyone really read the piece?
shipley130| 3.20.11 @ 8:04PM
If I could be so bold to tweak a few words in this article--If someone helps you, like them. But not if that help is on the backs and to the detriment of others.
MsAngeeDepp| 3.25.11 @ 12:16PM
Although this might be my years studying at Bible College but I dont really think it would be wise to quote the words of Jesus and suggesting that his truth is relative.
You totally didnt understand the scripture:
This reader got it right:
When Pontius Pilate asked Jesus 'What is Truth?', like you, Ben Stein, he didn't recognise that the absolute Truth was standing right in front of him.
Jesus was implying that Pilate thought he knew what was truth but he was so incredibly hypocritical that he basically didnt know THE TRUTH if it bit him on the behind as to say.
I do appreciate your gratitude though at how far you have come from the people before you. This is a past to true humbleness.
I do like your quote about your quote that "My life is a pursuit of beauty." which you seem to realize in many things, but realize with people true Godly beauty is not how well a woman dresses or how staggerly beautiful she is. Although this is not a bad thing. A less then perfect looking model appears even more beautiful by how she lives her life and treats man kind. Just a thought.
weddingdresses | 6.27.11 @ 5:03AM
Well, I liked it. Keep writing. it's a slice of a world that I don't belong to, and I'm glad I got to go along with you and see the best parts.
Reebok | 8.11.11 @ 2:55AM
is good
العاب | 4.11.12 @ 5:26PM
thank you ..is good