Once in a blue moon when I’m engrossed in a good book I come
upon something that really stays with me – something like Zen Hugs from Anne
McCaffrey’s The Ship Who Searched. Zen Hugs are “the hugs that you would
get, if we were there, if we could hug you, but we aren't, and we can't.” Zen hugs became my tradition when writing to
family and friends. I have several
“treasures” like this in my mental archives, some in my computer archives too, pithy
sayings from people such as John Steinbeck, Maya Angelou, Douglas Adams, and
Andy Rooney.
One of the
strongest passage to catch my attention was this one from Trevanian’s Shibumi: “It was not their irritating
assumption of equality that annoyed Nicholai so much as their cultural
confusion. The Americans seemed to confuse standard of living with quality of
life, equal opportunity with institutionalized mediocrity, bravery with
courage, machismo with manhood, liberty with freedom, wordiness with
articulation, fun with pleasure – in short, all of the misconceptions common in
those who assume that justice implies equality for all, rather than equality
for equals.”
It’s a hard point of view, but that’s us, that’s us
Americans.
Right? Think about it.
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