Daily Inspirational Quote October 71 2014
“In religion and politics, people’s beliefs and convictions are in almost every case gotten at second-hand, and without examination, from authorities who have not themselves examined the questions at issue but have taken them at second-hand from other non-examiners, whose opinions about them were not worth a brass farthing.” – Mark Twain
Some time ago, my husband informed me that Mr. Rogers, of the children’s television show “Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood,” had been a renowned sniper in Vietnam. When I argued that this seemed very unlikely, he was adamant. When I asked him how he knew, he admitted that my brother had told him. When I then asked my brother about this, he was also adamant that it was true, and he became vehement in defending the story. When I asked him how HE knew, he told me our father had told him. (Ah! Who can argue with authority?) When I asked my father about it, he couldn’t remember where he’d heard it, but he was at least open to what I discovered via a little internet research: That the story was nothing more than an urban legend. If you think about it, the only things we truly know are those we’ve personally experienced.
Some time ago, my husband informed me that Mr. Rogers, of the children’s television show “Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood,” had been a renowned sniper in Vietnam. When I argued that this seemed very unlikely, he was adamant. When I asked him how he knew, he admitted that my brother had told him. When I then asked my brother about this, he was also adamant that it was true, and he became vehement in defending the story. When I asked him how HE knew, he told me our father had told him. (Ah! Who can argue with authority?) When I asked my father about it, he couldn’t remember where he’d heard it, but he was at least open to what I discovered via a little internet research: That the story was nothing more than an urban legend. If you think about it, the only things we truly know are those we’ve personally experienced.