A Man Convinced Against His Will...

Photo by Sean Thomas on Unsplash

Very early in life I remember my mother saying, "A man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still." I remember it because Mom this was one of quite a few sayings that she repeated from time to time.*

I don't recall the context, but she was full of pithy sayings that she'd pulled from the Elbert Hubbard Scrap Book, which was essentially a collection of sayings, quotes and anecdotes that he'd collected over the course of a lifetime. We had the hardcover edition  from 1923 that looked like this.

This quote came to mind many times in recent months as I observed the clash of conflicting views on nearly every topic being debated now on the national stage. 

What's disappointing to me is that there does not seem to be a real effort to reach out and build bridges in order to gain an understanding of opposing views. This is especially the case in the Cancel Culture of mob discipline in which many people -- generally those not accustomed to fighting -- have been battered into silence. 

I'm curious to know if in Washington there might be legislators on both sides of the aisle who want to quietly address real issues, but fear being "cancelled" by the extremists in their parties? 

Is it my imagination or does the media thrive on generating this adversarial atmosphere? If yes, then what we have is a situation in which they are incentivized to create agitation rather than incentivized to help us better get along. This is not a healthy situation. 

My heart is heavy about what's going on. One can only hope that there are people in positions of influence behind the scenes who are quietly working toward solutions for taming this seemingly out of control dragon.

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HERE ARE SOME MORE QUOTES FROM ELBERT HUBBARD

--Every man should have a college education in order to show him how little the thing is really worth. The intellectual kings of the earth have seldom been college-bred.

--Never explain — your friends do not need it and your enemies will not believe you anyhow.

--If men could only know each other, they would never either idolize or hate.

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According to Cliffnotes, the saying was popularized by Dale Carnegie in his book How to Win Friends and Influence People, though its origins are much earlier.

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Meantime, life goes on...

* Here is another of my mom's favorites: "Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to decieve."