"When You Walk, Walk With Pride"
"A man should always wear a garment with two pockets. In one pocket, there should be a note which reads, 'I am but dust and ashes.' In the other pocket, there should be a paper which says, 'For me, the world was created.'" -- Hassidic wisdom of Rabbi Fields to Norman Lear
Another inspirational, go-get-'em quote, right? Too bad I don't believe in cliché inspirationalism, and so wouldn't allow such a thing on my blog, unless someone had come to my apartment, duct taped me to a wall, discovered my username and password, and blogged it themselves. I can honestly say that such is not the case; at least not yet, though part of me holds out hope for that. It would be an adventure, no?
There is a much deeper meaning to this quote, at least that I've personally discovered in my mulling it over for days and weeks. I'm not talking about the religious ideologies one can unpack from it either, though you can go there if you'd like, and I certainly have. It speaks to the internal conflict inside each man, or that should be inside each man. I've seen it, I've experienced it, and it fascinates me, this conflict. How do we even operate or find a balance between the two Selves--the one which believes he is nothing, and the other which knows he is everything?
"Our greatest fear is not that we are inadequate, but that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, handsome, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be?" -- Attributed to Nelson Mandela
Don't be afraid of being brilliant; you're supposed to be. And don't be afraid of being a failure; you're supposed to be that too.
Another inspirational, go-get-'em quote, right? Too bad I don't believe in cliché inspirationalism, and so wouldn't allow such a thing on my blog, unless someone had come to my apartment, duct taped me to a wall, discovered my username and password, and blogged it themselves. I can honestly say that such is not the case; at least not yet, though part of me holds out hope for that. It would be an adventure, no?
There is a much deeper meaning to this quote, at least that I've personally discovered in my mulling it over for days and weeks. I'm not talking about the religious ideologies one can unpack from it either, though you can go there if you'd like, and I certainly have. It speaks to the internal conflict inside each man, or that should be inside each man. I've seen it, I've experienced it, and it fascinates me, this conflict. How do we even operate or find a balance between the two Selves--the one which believes he is nothing, and the other which knows he is everything?
"Our greatest fear is not that we are inadequate, but that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, handsome, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be?" -- Attributed to Nelson Mandela
Don't be afraid of being brilliant; you're supposed to be. And don't be afraid of being a failure; you're supposed to be that too.
posted by juxtaposer at 4:39 PM
3 Comments:
atom bomb
hydrogen bomb
female mind
It wasn't Mandela's quote, he just used it in his inauguration, and so it's always attributed to him. And why not listen to ex-cons? At least they were honest enough to go to jail, unlike many people floating free in society and allowed to make book deals who should be chained to a prison wall. Then again, they could still get book deals.
I love that Mandela one. It was quoted at my graduation. I'd forgotten about it, so thanks for the reminder. It's good to remember every so often that we are born to be great, siply because we are the offspring of diety (spelling?) and with that comes the privelige of aspiring to become whatever and whoever we want to. It's a comforting feeling, really.
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