April 17
In every heart the knowledge of the good shines of itself; no one has to acquire it first. Only the dust of self-interest covers it — wipe it away, and the mirror shows clearly again.
Instructions for Practical Living (freely rendered)
Listening mode
In every heart the knowledge of the good shines of itself; no one has to acquire it first. Only the dust of self-interest covers it — wipe it away, and the mirror shows clearly again.
Sometimes it is only your excuses that show you that you already knew something. Someone asks you to do something tiresome, and before you have even heard the whole request, the reasons are ready: no time, not really your job, others could do it better. Reasons that come so quickly are answering something. They contradict an insight you never even voiced.
What is strange is how little weight this knowledge seems to carry. It doesn't argue and doesn't press. Self-interest, on the other hand, speaks in reasonable sentences and can appeal to experience. It rarely looks like self-interest; more like prudence.
Then again, not every first impulse is good. Sometimes the first thing that stirs in you is precisely the wish to stay out of it, and only reflection brings you back. So it can't be said that what comes first is always the more honest.
You decline, kindly and with good reasons. The reasons are even true. You just found them very quickly.
