Friends of Aesthetic Realism
       Countering the Lies
“It’s a lie, and not a well told one at that.
  It grins out like a copper dollar.”

                  —Abraham Lincoln

Statement by Zvia Ratz, Translator and Student

As to the ridiculous lie about severing ties with family members, Ms. Ratz says: When I visited my family in Israel after I began studying Aesthetic Realism, for the first time I actually wanted to know them. After years of not speaking more than ten words in any given conversation with my father, we sat one evening and spoke for five hours into the night. I learned from him for the first time about his childhood in Romania, about his painful experiences during World War II, his hopes and love for Israel, and the direction he would like his life to proceed in. Recently he called me on the phone at work and we spoke for a while. When the conversation was over, my boss, who was sitting at the next table, asked me who I spoke with. When I said it was my father, he said: “I would have never guessed it. You sounded like you spoke with a friend.”

As to the lie about shunning people who no longer study Aesthetic Realism, Ms. Ratz says: My sister used to study Aesthetic Realism from Israel. She stopped some years ago. We speak regularly, and our conversations are getting better all the time. In Aesthetic Realism consultations I am encouraged to be deeper about her, to understand her point of view and not be judgmental, as big sisters can be. In a recent consultation I was asked: “Do you want to know how she feels to herself or do you act like a big sister who already knows the answers and is going to lay down the law and tell her what to do?” It changed me and I like talking with her even more.

Regarding the preposterous lie that people are discouraged from going to college, Ms. Ratz says: I graduated from a teachers college in Israel before I met Aesthetic Realism, but I thought I would never teach. Because of what I am learning in Aesthetic Realism classes, I decided to go back to school and study to be a math teacher. This semester I am attending Brooklyn College. In Aesthetic Realism consultations, not only am I encouraged to attend college, my Aesthetic Realism teachers want me to succeed in my university studies; they are helping me to see the beauty of math, and are encouraging me to learn as much as I can in the college classes I attend.

Regarding the lie that criticism of Aesthetic Realism is not allowed or is discouraged, Ms. Ratz writes: In Aesthetic Realism consultations and classes I am encouraged to use my scientific approach to things to see what is true and to express my observations and criticisms of any subject and any person, including my teachers. I have been present in classes where I have heard other people encouraged to do so, and each criticism is welcomed and treated with seriousness and respect.

Regarding the being a so-called “devotee” of Eli Siegel, Ms. Ratz writes: I respect Eli Siegel more than any other person I have met or heard about. But I am not devoted to him. I have looked critically at the principles of the philosophy he founded, and I think they are true. I also think that 1 + 1 = 2, and that a week has 7 days, and that the sun rises in the east in the morning and sets in the west at night. This doesn’t make me a devotee of math or the sun; it makes me a scientifically observant person, who is happy to learn these facts.

Regarding the statement that people who study Aesthetic Realism all live “within walking distance” of the Aesthetic Realism Foundation: I live in Brooklyn.

READ WHAT'S TRUE—
  • Read statements by many individual men and women
  • Reviews from the NY Times Book Review, Saturday Review, Library Journal, Harlem Times, Popular Photography, and more
  • The poetry by Eli Siegel, so greatly respected by William Carlos Williams and many others
  • Read lectures by Eli Siegel on subjects as diverse as literature, love, & economics
  • What is learned in classes taught by Ellen Reiss

  • A Little Anthology of Comments (Some Funny We Hope) on Further Misrepresentations.

    >> Continue

    "On the Pleasures and Advantages of Anonymity: An Ode"—
    >> Continue

    A Dramatic and Cautionary Tale about an Unknown and Very Unimportant Person

    There once was a young man of ancient Greece named Milos. And Milos knew Socrates. He did not like Socrates because the great man asked far too many questions....>> Continue

    Statements by Friends of Aesthetic Realism

    Barbara Allen
    Frances Amello
    Jerry Amello
    Christopher Balchin
    Mara Bennici
    David Berger
    Alice Bernstein
    Rachel J. Bernstein
    Barbara Buehler
    Gina Buffone
    Beverly Sue Burk
    Maureen Butler
    Jeffrey Carduner
    Margot Carpenter
    Lori & Robert Colavito
    Albert Corvino
    Nicholas Corvino
    Henry D'Amico
    Matthew D’Amico
    Ernest DeFilippis
    Vincent DiPietro
    Carol Driscoll
    Donita Ellison
    Anne Fielding
    Lorraine Galkowski, RN
    Pamela Goren
    Edward Green
    Avi Gvili
    Ames Huntting
    Mark Lale
    Dale Laurin
    Rose Levy
    Timothy Lynch
    Lorraine Mahoney, RN
    Derek Mali
    Glenn Mariano
    Haroldo Mauro Jr.
    Joseph Meglino
    Pauline Meglino
    Allan Michael
    Marvin Mondlin
    Robert Murphy
    Michael J. Nadeau
    Meryl Nietsch-Cooperman
    Ruth Oron
    Arnold Perey, PhD
    Lauren Phillips
    Jack Plumstead
    Maria Plumstead
    Rosemary Plumstead
    Rev. Wayne Plumstead
    Marcia Rackow
    Zvia Ratz
    Ann Richards
    Anthony C. Romeo
    Leila Rosen
    Rhonda Rosenthal
    Sally Ross
    Claudia Senatore
    Sheldon Silverman
    Jeffrey Sosinsky, MD
    Barbara Spetly McClung
    Joseph Spetly
    Faith K. Stern
    John Stern
    Arlene Sulkis
    Devorah Tarrow
    Jaime R. Torres, DPM
    Dennis L. Tucker
    Francine Weber
    Steve Weiner
    Miriam Weiss
    Carrie Wilson

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