Bookmark #530

If you notice a leader of any kind—no, not those in fiction who are written to be the epitome of human wisdom, but those who stand atop or aspire to stand on pedestals and platforms in the real world—you may notice how they only talk in pithy platitudes. They never delve into the utter chaos of nuance. It is too difficult for them to navigate, and if I were to place a bet, it is far too hard for them to understand. They are simpletons. It is the mark of common person, living a common life, brimming with the common trouble of finding the middle ground every living, breathing day to know there is no simple answer.

A person you meet on the street will rarely be able to give you succinct advice because their life and all they go through daily will force them to consider the lack of one. The denizens of marble citadels, literal and figurative alike, live their lives within the confines of one laconic maxim. They can do so because they can afford to do so. The inadequacy of those we lift is precisely why we are tempted to do so, but in the end, it is inadequacy no matter how appealing, and eventually, it reveals itself. All pithy advice falls flat in the face of fate and fortune, and the further we raise the messengers, the further from reality they go, and the wiser they appear, and eventually, as things play out, the further down they fall.

The world is a scrambled place. Once we accept that the answer if there ever was any, is never contained in a few words is when we truly begin to live. Surety is taught to be a sign of intelligence, so most children are a bit too sure of themselves; as they grow older, they realise doubt, not surety, is the mark of the wise. Even fools, especially fools, can be sure of everything, especially themselves; the rest of us continue to second-guess everything we do and think, and for good reason! There is always more than meets the eye. In a world that is a smidge away from a million little oblivions and in days that personify a thousand contradictions, it is but a privilege to be pithy. For the rest of us, we must use all the words we have. There is so much to say, at all times, always.

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