Motivational Truths on the Inspiration of Wisdom
There are many ways to arrive at the truth. The phrase “arrive at” is in some way representative of the fact that the great truths and wisdoms of life are arrived at by the seeker, they are rarely handed over or surrendered to them by some one else. But the fact remains that humanity’s greatest asset is our ability to commune with other members of our species and share knowledege. In this way we have progressed technologically and intellectually, building on the thoughts, ideas, and developments of others who came before us.
But what of truths? And by that I mean the great truths of life and existence rather than mere facts. Can these be transmitted from one human being to another? We have just said that they cannot be given to us but we must find them ourselves. If that was strictly true we wouldn’t be able to progress much on a spiritual level as a species as every successive generation would need to re-invent the metaphorical wheel in the search for meaning.
Thankfully the human mind is complex and it deals in both facts and more intangible realisations. From the very beginnings of communication we have pushed the boundaries of how indistinct we can be in what we say, and in this indistinctness, or rather in the spaces between these indistict communications lies a chasm of truths for each of our minds to decipher. This intangible facet of human communication has gifted to us the realm of the arts where experience and interpretation and visceral emotions blend into a heady mix. And from this noxious mixture arrises the elusive truth, only discernable to those minds that seek and those eyes that look and those hearts that yearn for answers.
Nowhere is this more apparent than in the world of poetry. Simple and bland words seem to innocently communicate sentences and meaning, but it is between the lines that the spirit truly soars and the truth is made incarnate.
Late Wisdom
We’ve trod the maze of error round,
Long wandering in the winding glade;
And now the torch of truth is found,
It only shows us where we strayed:
By long experience taught, we know—
Can rightly judge of friends and foes;
Can all the worth of these allow,
And all the faults discern in those.
Now, ’tis our boast that we can quell
The wildest passions in their rage,
Can their destructive force repel,
And their impetuous wrath assuage.—
Ah, Virtue! dost thou arm when now
This bold rebellious race are fled?
When all these tyrants rest, and thou
Art warring with the mighty dead?
— George Crabbe. 1754–1832
This post was guest blogged by Samir Bharadwaj. He is a freelance writer and design generalist who blogs about his ideas, and ideas in general at Samir Bharadwaj dot Com.
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