yes, exactly, he treated them like they saw themselves.
it wouldn't work if that understanding wasn't there on both sides.
from my own experience i find it most frustrating when i try to tell someone that their actions are hurtful, and they respond "nah, i am just like that, i can't change", because they have a negative image of themselves.
You don't solve a problem by running away from it. This guy would have been very useful. He just needed counselling, attention and love to overcome the 'darkness and his ghosts'. But I don't think he was smart. He might have been clever in class and books but smart and brilliant people don't take their own lives. Brilliant is misused here. Anyway R.I.P.
> Seriously, you can't hold him up as an idol of a 'better life' when his life was cut short very, very prematurely.
You can still respect the attempt, consider the ideals, and identify specific mistakes (which most of his intellectually stunted detractors fail to do).
I think you and the person I was replying to missed the second part of the other comment, which I believe to be the main point: "But none of that could have meaured up against just leaving the poor guy alone to pursue his own thoughts and loves. And who knows what gifts to the whole world he could have returned from that."
Why is that a problem? Are you your best you every day or do you fail at some things and still persist at trying? It's natural to know what's best and yet not to be able to follow that to a T.
I don't even fully understand the scope of this concern. He became a heavy drinker in his late years, not a child murderer.
He saw a lot in his life, and I would imagine that the stare into the abyss line was in his mind. I get the feeling that he was not really tempted to cheat himself (unlike some other that can be named), but was very conscious of a scandal.
For other, maybe in this case, having people around you to get you away from trouble is also an excellent idea. In a position of power, a person should also be conscious to the effects on all the people who depend on you. If you have a drinking problem, perhaps a constant sober coach is a good idea. Having a person to make sure you don't get personal with other might follow along those lines.
Like a lot of things in life, it is a two front war. Are you protected against some external agent, and are you protected from yourself. Some will only need one type of protection, but if you are in a position where people depend on you, then you should be honest, at least with yourself, and make some good choices.
> He chose a certain path in life, it proved to be a misguided one, but there, he chose it, he can say that at least. As for myself, I cannot even claim that. You see, I trusted. I trusted in his lordship’s wisdom. All those years I served him, I trusted I was doing something worthwhile. I can’t even say I made my own mistakes. Really – one has to ask oneself – what dignity is there in that?’
What got him to the point he didn't want to be like that anymore? From what he said, seeing how harmful and counter-productive it was, and how unhappy it made him and others.
You assume that he was able to apply logic to his emotional sensibilities. Because of what happened to him, this could never be the case. The darkness, as he called it, enveloped his reason. One of a host of horrific and sad consequences of his suffering.
No one is perfect. But overall his actions were brave and he paid a terrible price. The worst part is probably that what he published ended up making no real difference.
Or, did his advice work great on him - but he was such a sad case that what we all saw of him was his best possible self?
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