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Wisdom of the Aged

Older people know something that I don't. I have heard often of the man who says what he is thinking, regardless of his audience, airing his thoughts on any subject that happens to quicken his anger or passions. Sons and daughters quickly shush old men like this for fear of offense, and strangers cast sideways glances, dismissing them as senile. Still, these men know something that I don't.

They know that the opinions of others are no threat to them. They know that they will go on living in spite of the anger roused in others by their beliefs; and they know that one's beliefs can as easily be shaped by others if he or she is not careful to define them oneself. These men may lack prudence, but they have wisdom. They may express indifference, but they radiate certitude.

There is a balance to be had, I suppose, and a time and place for everything; but in a climate rife with sensitivity to the politically correct, it can be both comic and telling to watch one of these older men rail against whatever happens to anger them. I believe we have something to learn from men or women like these. We can learn that convictions are a form of expression, a boundary stake in the wilderness of public opinion that defines where others end and we begin. If one dares to go further, to lay claim to the truth of his convictions, this expression can also be a rebellion, for no man lays claim to truth without being confronted by competing claims.

As one of the fearful ones, I want to learn to balance consideration with candor, empathy with self-actualization; to grow into and remain a man of conviction, while holding to the truth that others' perspectives-- learned through their own trials and experiences--hold the same weight and consequence as my own.

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