Matthew Ro Hunt

English 091 39831

Analysis paper FD
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A while back, I was introduced to a book; The Wizards First Rule, by Terry Goodkind;
this book and the following in the series (The Sword of the Truth) showed me the Wizards
Rules. I have pushed myself into making these rules into a guide for my life and for the bases on
how I should live. In the years I have followed these rules, I have talked with others who have
known the rules and those who dont know the rules; watching and seeing how the rules could
affect their lives. I know that with an understanding of the rules and how they can be applied,
they will change your life; or at least safeguard you from having the rules used against you.
All rules start with the first; even wizards are not an exception to this condition. This rule
is the foundation that all others are built upon. "People are stupid; given proper motivation,
almost anyone will believe almost anything. Because people are stupid, they will believe a lie
because they want to believe it is true, or because they are afraid it might be true. Peoples heads
are full of knowledge, facts and beliefs, and most of it is false; yet they think it all true. People
are stupid; they can only rarely tell the difference between a lie and the truth, and yet they are
confident they can, and so are all the easier to fool." (Goodkind p. 397 US Hard Cover). Through
this characters adventures he gained the knowledge and skills needed to use the rules to his
advantage and defend against them as well. Though this rule has been given to us by a fictional
character it has many real life applications in which we can also gain the knowledge and skills to
use the rules in our own life experiences.
No matter what, as humans, we are flawed. No matter what we know or how much
knowledge we can obtain there is always something that we are grasping on to that isnt true.
The more that we can see what is going on, the broader our understanding of what is true, the
narrower our view of what should be true will be.
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English 091 39831
Analysis paper FD
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Breaking the first rule can happen in little ways. Such as: wanting with all your heart to
believe that your friend would never hurt you or a larger belief that the governments of nations
actually have the best interests of its people at heart. When the rule is broken there can be small
or huge repercussions. It is the hurt of learning you were wrong and growing into a wiser person
that builds the knowledge and skills needed to master the rule. There are a few who have broken
this rule and never recovered and death has followed them; either their own or a loved one.
Rarely in these times was it meant to be broken, due to a belief or superstition that hindered them
from getting help, or not seeing past what is needed.
But remember; The Greatest harm can result from the best intentions. Kindness and
good intentions can be insidious path to destruction. Sometimes doing what seems right is
wrong, and can cause harm. The only counter to it is knowledge, wisdom, forethought and
understanding the first Rule. Even then, that is not always enough. (Goodkind, page 634 US
Hard Cover) Although this is easily understood you may have at one point broken this new rule,
the second rule. By helping someone to do something they could have done for themselves you
may have hurt them further. We as a race have for the most part been trying to improve our lives
and those around us; as with everything this has not been for the best. There have been wars,
radiation fallout, disease, and even when aid has been dropped into these areas they are just
cheap Band-Aids that hide an ugly scar that rarely gets to those who needed it.
I have seen this in two smaller areas. The first is when teaching someone a skill; most
will just try to get it done quickly and not take time to make sure that the person has fully gained
the wisdom and knowledge for this ability. This has resulted in that person failing many times in
the skill that was trying to be taught to them; due the lack of self-confidence they never try again.
The second and sometimes more dangerous is a medical or health need. When my mothers leg
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English 091 39831
Analysis paper FD
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was amputated, she said it hurt too much to walk with her prosthetic; she was also too depressed
to try. If we kept getting things for her, she would have never regained the skill of walking.
Helping her all the time would have resulted in her never getting better and becoming fully
dependent on me and I would have crippled her.
Having this rule used against you is very hard, this is one of the rules that one breaks by
just doing what they believe is right and then failing the other person. Nothing in the intent of the
actions were meant to be harmful, nevertheless the resulting actions have now either crippled
someone physically, emotionally, spiritually, or educationally. There is no true defense to this,
only caution. Being aware and gaining the wisdom to make sure your actions cannot
unintentionally harm the person you are trying to help. Always keep in mind that no matter how
much you might know there is always knowledge you have yet to gain and emotions to control.
Every human has moments of extreme emotions, outburst of anger, love, sadness, or
another one of those hard to push down feelings. This next rule touches wholly on passions; let
this send you where it will. Passion rules reason, for better or worse. Letting your emotion
control your reason may cause trouble for yourself and those around you. (Goodkind, page 360
US Hard Cover ). Passion is a strong feeling toward a cause or an emotion. Reasoning is to have
the ability to think in a more logical way. I have found that when thinking over this rule I find
myself making sure that my emotions are clear before I make any decisions in my life. Although,
yes I have broken this rule many, many times and I know I will again one day. Have you ever
had one of these moments?
What if you were faced with having to choose one persons life over billions and it is a
person you love? Could you stop yourself? Keeping your passion under control to let reason win
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English 091 39831
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and to know that if you let that kind of person win that round they will do it again, and you will
lose each time. When we break any of the rules, as for me, I am also broken; even if it is in a
small way.
We see on T.V., radio, newspaper and other media outlets all those who lose their
reasoning and are following what passions they feel and fall into trouble. We see the third rule on
a grand scale, all over, the world with fighting, bombing, and wars. There are so many ways that
this rule has been broken; and yet there is little defense. Only to keep calm and control your
thoughts over your feelings, no matter how good your intentions might be. We must then try to
seek forgiveness in ourselves and the ones we have hurt and move forward.
If you can find that forgiveness you are a lucky person. The fourth rule: There is magic
in sincere forgiveness; in the forgiveness you give, but more so in the forgiveness you receive
(GoodKind, page 318 US Hard Cover), if understood correctly the right person can see that you
are true in the forgiveness you seek. The forgiveness that you give others is the scale on which
you should be judged and the more forgiveness that you grant, the more that will be given to you.
The key to the rule is the binding word, if you are not sincere in the forgiveness you are giving to
others, then there is no magic in what is given to you.
Yes, it is very difficult to forgive when others hurt you. I always keep in mind there are
many things in my life I have done without the intent of doing harm, or even that my action were
mistaken toward a different meaning. If you cannot forgive others for mistreating you when they
are sincerely sorry for the action they have done, why should you be forgiven for anything you
have done?
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English 091 39831
Analysis paper FD
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Keeping mindful now we have been talking about learning what is going around seeing
the truth for what it is. Sometimes we dont when someone is being truthful or not. The fifth rule
can help with this, Mind what people do, not only what they say, for deeds will betray a lie.
No matter what your affiliation is, either friend or foe, you should watch the persons action
instead of the lies that are used to deceive you. (Goodkind, page 205 US Hard Cover) We can
always say one thing, but do another. I didnt have that cookie. Yet they have the crumbs all
over their shirt, showing they did. This is greatest use of this rule; however, I must also warn you
make sure to keep an eye on the other side of the rule, watch what others say about another
person, it can tell you what kind of a person they are. The words spoke about that person might
be a lie and no closer to the truth of whom they are. Actions speak louder than words, but words
can speak volumes about a person.
With adding each new rule the concepts can get more complex and overwhelming. That
with each new idea entered there is more to remember; but it is important keep the ideas in mind
and prevalent to keep them from controlling you, rule six will help on this. The only sovereign
you can allow to rule you is reason. The first law of reason is this: what exists, exists, what is,
is and from this irreducible bedrock principle, all knowledge is built. It is the foundation from
which life is embraced. Thinking is a choice. Wishes and whims are not facts nor are they a
means to discover them. Reason is our only way of grasping reality; it is our basic tool of
survival. We are free to evade the effort of thinking, to reject reason, but we are not free to avoid
the penalty of the abyss that we refuse to see. Faith and feelings are the darkness to reasons light.
In rejecting reason, refusing to think, one embraces death. The most important rule there is the
hub upon all rules turn. It is not only the most important, but the simplest. Nonetheless, it is the
one most often ignored and violated, and by far the most despised. It must be wielded in spite of
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cease, howling protest of the wicked. (Goodkind, page 319 US Hard Cover) As a hub of the
rules, this shows us that we cannot allow anything to lay claim over us and above our ability of
reasoning. There are a few instances when this rule has come across my path in life, though it
was not for me. I had a very close friend who turned to the comfort of drugs letting it entirely
rule over their life and over their own better judgment. No matter how many times they
wondered if this was the day they were going to die. Most will use this rule against you, keeping
you chained in ignorance and making sure you cannot grow or think for yourself. It is my hope
that I will get to you in time to keep your life yours.
With the mistakes we have made in life, we all have regret; living with regret will never
help you achieve anything. Rule seven points forward; Life is the Future, not the past. The
past can teach us, through experience, how to accomplish things in the future, comfort us with
cherished memories, and provide the foundation of what has already been accomplished. But
only the future holds life. To live in the past is to embrace what is dead. To live life to its fullest,
each day must be created anew. As rational, thinking beings, we must use our intellect, not a
blind devotion to what has come before, to make rational choices." (Goodkind, page 549 US
Hard Cover) We must keep what has been done to us, and what we have done with us; but only
as a tool to learn from. If we are always going in the past, seeing what happened trying to change
that, your life with will pass you by. I was once against this rule for a long time, never following
it and playing the what if game. What if this happened in high school? What if I dated that
girl? This can make your whole life disappear; never seeing what you have in your life now. The
past is dead, live for now and tomorrow!
In life nothing has ever been just given to me, nor do I think to you. We have worked and
earned what for have in this life. Rule eight is a short simple rule, but yet this is a rule that can
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English 091 39831
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be broken and death easily found, "Talga Vassternich. Deserve Victory." (Goodkind, page 626
US Hard Cover) Making sure you deserve what you have, if you dont believe you are worthy of
having what you own or what you have achieved why would anyone else? This can be almost
summed up as self confidence, yet it is not. Deserving what you have and owning it is not the
same nor is having the confidence in yourself to do what is needed to achieve your goal. This is a
daily task you must set yourself to do always asking, did I achieve victory today?
Think about beliefs rule nine is a harsh and unsympathetic rule. "A contradiction cannot
exist in reality. Not in part, nor in whole. To believe in a contradiction is to abdicate your
belief in the existence of the world around you and the nature of the things in it, to instead
embrace any random impulse that strikes your fancy -to imagine something is real simply
because you wish it were. A thing is what it is, it is itself. There can be no contradictions. Faith is
a device of self-delusion, a sleight of hand done with words and emotions founded on any
irrational notion that can be dreamed up. Faith is the attempt to coerce truth to surrender to
whim. In simple terms, it is trying to breathe life into a lie by trying to outshine reality with the
beauty of wishes. Faith is the refuge of fools, the ignorant, and the deluded, not of thinking,
rational men. In reality, contradictions cannot exist. To believe in them you must abandon the
most important thing you possess: your rational mind. The wager for such a bargain is your life.
In such an exchange, you always lose what you have at stake." (Goodkind, page 489 US Hard
Cover) As harsh as the rule is it, the base of it is gentle and simple. What there is this world is,
you cannot change it. We cannot say that the items that are in this world are not here. There is
water and it is wet; there is fire and it will burn. There cannot be a contradiction to this. There is
evil in the world: hunger, rape, murder, slavery, ect. Saying that this isnt in the world, only
because you dont want to see the evil is a contradiction to this rule.
Matthew Ro Hunt
English 091 39831
Analysis paper FD
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Following the same path, rule ten keeps us from turning from what is. Willfully turning
aside from the truth is treason to ones self. (Goodkind, page 127 US Hard Cover) Seeing
what is true and willingly turning away from it either to pretend or out of ignorance is a crime to
your own intelligence and character. This has been shown a lot in our very unfortunate
government officials. They know that they are doing is wrong, told us that this is wrong, but yet
they have knowingly turned aside from the truth to follow a path to benefit their pockets,
employment, or other agendas for that they are not in places of power for.
With all things in life nothing can be just given to you. Rule eight has shown us we must
deserve victory. The last rule, the Unspoken rule (Goodkind, page not a direct quote). This
one rule you must find within yourself. All answers must be searched from within. I have yet to
find this rule for myself and I imagine it will take me many more years to finally come to
understanding of who I am, so that I might get a glimpse of rule in action. Taken from another
source, as in Kung Fu Panda, Pou the Panda received the dragon scroll and finally realized there
is no secret ingredient after all. You have to the answers for yourself and within yourself
With the truth now set before you, I am glad that my few years of trying live a life
following these rules might help you live a better life. Can you make these rules yours? Is there
anything you have learned? Or have you found that this whole thing was a waste of your time? I
hope not, the rules have saved my life and the lives of others I have known. Life is the only thing
that is truly yours and no one elses, never surrender that to anyone. Your life is your own. Rise
up and live it. (Goodkind, page 740 US Paper Cover)