Thursday, September 27, 2007

My Ramblin' Prose 3


"When the conduct of men is designed to be influenced, persuasion, kind unassuming persuasion, should ever be adopted. It is an old and true maxim that 'a drop of honey catches more flies than a gallon of gall.' So with men. If you would win a man to your cause, first convince him that you are his sincere friend. Therein is a drop of honey that catches his heart, which, say what he will, is the great highroad to his reason, and which, once gained, you will find but little trouble in convincing him of the justice of your cause, if indeed that cause is really a good one."

-Abraham Lincoln (1809 - 1865)


Alas, but how few use such wisdom nowadays.  And how few actually would respond positively to such soft approach anyway.

Of course during his time, in politics, dear old Abe had only to deal with men.  Therefore his statement was only made in the masculine context.  Can't fault him for that.  Our political landscape now is totally different.  On top of having to deal with different sexes, cultures, religions, we also have to contend with double-speaking and spin-doctoring. 

Then there are the actors who can play dumb, shed tears on demand, or scream and shout abuses at you even when you see no reason for them to behave the way they do, in spite of your diplomatic approach.  The fact remains they're making statements to reach a larger target audience.  Being seen as idiots by a small part of the public doesn't diminish their worth in the eyes of a bigger section of the population.  In other words, principles have no more value than a teaspoon of salt in the ocean.  Political dexterity is of utmost importance.  While getting voted is the bottom-line.  How you 'sail with the wind' decides how well you survive politically. 


And also that's why the regime in charge always intend to keep more of the population poorly educated by all dubious means they can get away with, while maintaining that they're always updating and advancing the standards.


For us ordinary folks, we tend to either shoot first and talk later or we don't say anything offensive to those close to us.  That's why we are either quarrelling most of the time or we just cold-shoulder each other when we don't agree, until one of us decides that the other could be right and makes a move for further discussion. 


It's only when we can thrash things out openly and maturely that we can solve common problems without involving highly charged emotions.  Otherwise unhealthy conditions just fester and anger and frustrations grow until relationships finally fall apart.


Perhaps, that's why it's terribly difficult to find sincere friends nowadays.  Value the ones who dare to give you the medication without sugar-coating it.  Of course you have to be the type who can take it straight.  I don't mean to say that those who can sugar-coat things before they throw it at you, are insincere.  On the contrary, these are the very people you should thank heaven for.  They are a rare breed who are honest yet diplomatic with you.  Consider yourself very fortunate if you can count them on the fingers of one hand.



10 comments:

  1. unfortunately, people now cant take the medication even with the sugar coating on it... =\

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  2. that explains the divorces, litigations, demonstrations and the wars...

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  3. most people that I know of and interact with would rather walk away and give the cold shoulder the next time they meet. Avoid whoever they don't like or differ in opinions. ...sigh ...

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  4. that's a lot better than coming out with blades and claws. at least there's a chance for a pow-wow later when the fire's died off.

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  5. The pow-wow is something to see and people wag their tongues for entertainment. Hahaha...

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  6. would like to see some wagging of tails at the end of it too.
    sometimes I think our 4-legged friends fare better. they know when to quit when nobody's winning.

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  7. This being the age of "Political Correctness and truth be damned ", suddenly no one wants to face or handle the truth...
    Ask a friend if you are fat , he/she is probably likely to say that you are "Adipose Abundant "...Shows you how much you can actually trust your friends...

    As for four legged ones...they are surprisingly similar...I was going to write about that one day in my blog.

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  8. ...sigh ...sigh ...
    people pull the tiggers; people crap on people

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  9. i think the game is still the same - mankind never learned anything - and despite all the trappings of education and culture, we are still brutes. we are one of the weakest animals on the living planet - we are ugly blurbs of soft flesh and bones, easily crushed by strength or disease. the only edge we have for survival is the capacity to outwit. we've never respected other lifeforms, and we are all just pretending we respect our own.

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  10. LOL! that's so true!! and rightly said XD

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