The Quote Of Hubbard

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

The Quote of Hubbard

"If men could only know each other, they would neither idolize nor hate." -Elbert Green Hubbard-


The first time, I heard this quote was whilst I watched the TV series; 'Criminal Minds' and it had stuck with me from then on. Most probably, it had simply hit a spot, as if we have the clarity to really really know about all there is to know about the other, wouldn't it be like really knowing your own self, weaknesses and strengths, and do tell me, stranger, what is there to idolize, or to hate?


But we thread on unstable grounds here, because some people love the object of their passion to death that it does not matter what the other is doing or saying. The idolized person become an image that is painted in the head of the person idolizing, and tell me if you do not think of this as the grand illusion.


The reason why I look at it from this standpoint is that, sometimes when I see others, I see something in myself too. The mistake is that I project what I am as to what I see in the other, which is a block to my ability to see the other, as the person she or he truly is.


We are masters at observing certain things, while neglecting to see other parts we wish to shun. I know myself, but only vaguely. Sometimes I blur out the sharp edges of some ugly parts and make them blend in so what I see is something close to a mild delusion. I don’t see me; I just see the me I think I should be.


This does not make me proud, however. Some of the times, I let the ugly resurface, and it has the ability to make me recoil in horror. But then I would just be relieved in that moment when I do not have to live up to a certain standard. For in trying to create this lovable image of myself, I feel repulsed by it. If I just be, just be this me, I would not hate it or idolize it for a micro second, but I would be left with the feeling of indifference, or in peace of this acceptance.


People idolize and hate for one reason or another, we find a weird sense of satisfaction in looking at the objects of our admiration while blithely cursing the objects of our hate. At one point, the object of our adoration and hate becomes the same one, and here, we arrived. We lay in our strange discomfort. We do the next best thing that is, we dwell, in our deepest thoughts of the question: why oh why that we could just hate and love at the same time..?

Soon, the merry-go-round of love to hate and back again quietly stops. We become quite, wholly indifferent. We are tired of the ruthless meanderings of bipolar thoughts. At this juncture, then, I believe we realize something deep and profound. The Idolizing and hating game is thus, a way for us to look at people or things, and to learn from them a unique path for the identity of our confused self.


shanaz@RS | 2:51 PM | Labels:

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