It would seem as if the rulers of our time sought only to use men in order to make things great; I wish that they would try a little more to make great men; that they would less set less value on the work, and more upon the workman; that they would never forget that a nation cannot long remain strong when every man belonging to it is individually weak; and that no form of combination of social policy has yet been devised to man an energetic people out a community of pusillanimous and enfeebled citizens.
-Alexis De Tocqueville
In going where you have to go, and doing what you have to do, and seeing what you have to see, you dull and blunt the instrument you write with. But I would rather have it bent and dulled and know I had to put it on the grindstone again and hammer it into shape and put a whetstone to it, and know that I had something to write about, than to have it bright and shining and nothing to say, or smooth and well oiled in the closet, but unused.
About Me
- Andrew
- Santa Cruz, California, United States
- Philosophy
1 comment:
Yes. But what if a man resists becoming great?
To what extent can you help someone overcome doubt, fear, despair, sloth...seven deadly sins sort of stuff?
What if, shudder the thought, that there are people whose greatest achievable contribution is merely mediocre, or worse, minimal, in our eyes.
How do we ensure that each man puts forth his best effort...to be all that he can be?
If you can answer that, you've solved the Sphinx' riddle of leadership.
Yes, great "things" are greatly overrated. The Great Wall of China and the pyramids were built with slave labor.
All things made by man crumble to dust, but the edifices of our souls' creation endure forever.
Our mere existence rings throughout the universe: "I was here!" But the note it strikes is determined by what we do.
Keep writing good thoughts.
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