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.