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The Man in Black
Posted: 14 Sep 2006 08:53 PM |
'dont do it dont do it' cried the gnome.
but it was too late the fools jumped.
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/the-visitor/sam1.jpg |
Love 'n' light
Wings |
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Re: The Man in Black
Posted: 15 Sep 2006 03:40 AM |
While others rushed ahead to their certain doom or into the badly laid traps that other fools might lay, Sam believed in being careful.
‘Patience’ he supposed, was not like any other skill you could learn, you either understood what it was and could live within its limitations - or you could not.
Most couldn’t.
Some folks he had met recently in the port actually thought they were patient and unhurried, and indeed perhaps for mortals they were; but even the best of them gave themselves away, for constantly lurking in the backs of their eyes he could see a desire to achieve a given aim, always he could see some burning need, some want, and with that want came impatience and a lack of prudence and some silly little act which gave them away.
That was the key to his triumphs really, you had to abandon all hope of achieving anything, submit yourself totally to the fates that carried all things forwards and never, not one time - dream of success. That was the primary skill so many misunderstood and that was why he alone remained of his kindred.
There were other skills you could learn to master, like the art of misdirection, or the art of false intellect. This latter was one of his favourites and always gave him the greatest pleasure in his victories. The trick of course was to allow other to see that you were not stupid and importantly that you knew it, but not quite smart enough to fool their more perceptive eyes. The more intelligent the person was the greater amount of intellect you had to show them and of course the more you had to hide. It would never do to let them know they were not smarter than you; you just had to let them believe that they were. With this perception of intellectual superiority came conceit and conceit was his favourite vice of all. Conceit never ever let you down.
For himself he understood quiet clearly that he was not the smartest or the strongest, he knew beyond any shadow of a doubt he was not the most learned person, always there would be somebody out there smarter or stronger or more scholarly, not many perhaps - but enough to make him return always to his primary rule – patience.
That was why Sam believed in being careful, it played to his greatest strengths. |
Love 'n' light
Wings |
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