What is the meaning of the phrase “good must be with fists”? When you first heard this statement, you involuntarily wonder, what kind of good is this and why does he need fists? Someone will introduce a muscular man who protects his property from the encroachments of envious people, others simply shrug their shoulders: such is the popular wisdom that has come to us from time immemorial. Let's see what the essence of the phrase “good must be with fists” and how it appeared.
Eloquence Exercise for Beginner Poets
According to the memoirs of Yevgeny Yevtushenko, the dictum about good, able to stand up for itself, was proposed by Mikhail Svetlov to students of the Literary Institute as an exercise for the development of figurative thinking. It happened back in 1959. Twenty-seven-year-old Stanislav Kunyaev did the job better than others. And so the famous lines were born.
It is likely that the young poet did not invest any global significance in his creation, the meaning of the expression “good must be with fists” was depicted as a literary hyperbole. However, the first stanza turned out so sonorous and capacious that it quickly scattered among the people.
As you know, in the sixties of the last century, people's interest in literature and poetry was very high. In concert halls and in private apartments, author's readings were arranged, performances of bard song performers were organized.
It is possible that the poem read with pathos at one of the poetic evenings impressed the intelligentsia, the meaning of the phrase “good must be with the fists” became an occasion for discussion. Over time, the phrase gained recognition, began to be perceived as a proverb. Such a situation is far from uncommon in Russian literature; it’s enough to recall A. Griboedov’s play “Woe from Wit”, which is sorted into quotes literally in lines.
Do fists need goodness?
What is good? This concept combines the positive qualities of a person: high morality, sympathy, compassion for others. A good-natured person is called a person who treats the problems of other people with understanding, tries to help everyone as far as possible, and often at the expense of himself. It’s hard to imagine such a good man with his fists. If aggression emanates from him, then what kind of mercy can we talk about?
But there is another point of view, just arising from the sound of the famous poetic stanza. If you think about it, the meaning of the phrase “good must be with fists” implies that a person should be able to stand not so much for himself as for his right to perform good deeds. In order to fend off evil-minded people who insist: “don’t go, don’t do it, but why do you need it, you won’t succeed anyway”, fists are very useful. But I really want people to use these and any other weapons as little as possible.