Beelzebubs-Tales-to-His-Grandson-by-G-I-Gurdjieff

"The house owners, shopkeepers, children, and in general everyone in mystreet became as amiable toward me as if I were intending to leave each ofthem a 'large American legacy ' And so on and so forth"After this 'emptycranian' event, I learned, by the way, that this unfortunatetsar also always has to prepare himself for such official meetings with beingswho are strangers to him."And he has many of these official meetings almost every day and evenseveral times a day here a parade of the troops, there an audience with theambassador of some other ruler, in the morning, a delegation, at noon, apresentation such as mine, later, a reception of different 'representatives of thepeople,' as they are called, and in each case it is necessary for him to talk, oreven to deliver a full-scale speech."As the least word of such a terrestrial tsar can have and often does haveserious consequences, not only for the beings of the community he rules butalso for those of other communities, each word must be thought out fromevery aspect."Well, for this purpose, surrounding these tsars or emperors, who occupytheir throne by hereditary right or by election, are many specialists chosenfrom the ordinary three-brained beings there, who 'prompt' them in what theymust do and say on all occasions, and these promptings and directions must begiven in such a way that people do not notice that their emperor manifests noton his own initiative but on the initiative of others."And in order to remember all this, these emperors must of course alsopractice."And what it means to practice you can probably picture to yourself afterwhat I have just told you I understood this with all my being when I preparedmyself for my illustrious presentation."During my entire existence on that planet, by the way, such a preparationwas necessary for me only once. Were