I came across this quote and it immediately pulled my attention. My first response after I read it was; well duh. But the truth in these seemingly simple phrases really resonates in a meaningful way.
"The mockery made him feel an outsider; and feeling an outsider he behaved like one, which increased the prejudice against him and intensified the contempt and hostility aroused by his physical defects. Which in turn increased his sense of being alien and alone. A chronic fear of being slighted made him avoid his equals, made him stand, where his inferiors were concerned, self-consciously on his dignity."
-Aldous Huxley, Brave New World.
Although Aldous Huxley's book Brave New World is set in the future, and contains elements from 20th century culture, his words in the preceding quote are true for mankind at any point in our history. A chronic fear of being slighted resulting from alienation is a key point for me. Sometimes even if one knows he is right, he won't bother speaking up. Preferring not to share the information, rather than risk being dismissed and or ridiculed. What's that old saying that goes something like - the one who speaks knows nothing?
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