As I read great minds
their ideas become common to me
because I assimilate them into how I think—
and there is considerable let-down
because much of what they say, is absorbed into common thought
or it doesn’t affect me
the way powerful ideas should
But—
there is one emotion that does captivate me
and that is the attitude of close friends.
You cannot read dozens of writers, and get to know them
Only a handful, less than five, like fingers on your right hand, will you ever understand, intimately
like wrinkles of character, that deepen with age
like broken bones, that heal
like scars.
When someone expresses an opinion
on one of your close friends
they misunderstand, completely
because experts listen to the gossip of crowds.
Go to the source, and discover them for yourself
It is not their ideas that will shape you
but their attitudes.
If you remember, back to your elementary years
it was your attitude, your teachers, were trying to perfect.
Nothing changes an individual more totally, than their attitude
It is strength, or weakness
or insanity,
that caries its own reason—that weighs most heavily.
It takes strength, to carry a powerful attitude.
It will come-out, at the most inopportune times.
It will create enemies—and indenture respect.
It will be misunderstood,
and slandered.
Why should you adopt an attitude that is difficult to articulate?
Because vernacular is common, and what is common, can’t be yours
There is the attitude of the Yes Man
and there is the attitude of the Reactionary Revolutionary,
that threatens officials
who have no understanding of real power.
The unarticulated, unquantifiable, individual
has the potential to act
because he cannot be pushed-up against
or pulled-on
or constrained
due to his unarticulated attitude.
It is his will
that will change
the next century
Simply,
by being spoken.