“When you judge a person’s worth based on their behavior, you paint a little bit of your world black. You create a dark spot on the reality you see, and it stays there as long as your verdict remains unexamined. If you are particularly judgmental, most of your world eventually becomes stained in this way, until you live in a world you don’t like.” — David Cain, Raptitude
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August 27th, 2009 at 7:27 pm
Hmmm….this is a very interesting quote, but I’m not sure how I feel about it yet. I absolutely agree that living in a judgmental place all the time colors our world - we create a lens in which everything is always wrong. And yet, how can we manifest change in the world if we don’t attempt to judge other’s behavior? I guess the key here is not attaching judgment of that behavior to the self-worth of others.
August 28th, 2009 at 8:46 am
Lisa, this quote comes from a lengthy two-part series David wrote on good vs. evil, in which he basically calls for more compassion and less revenge. David is Canadian, of course, and Canada does not use the death penalty. In my life, I have never actually seen or experienced evil. I have seen the effects of mental illness or drug abuse or child abuse, but these are effects, not evil per se. We may be able to judge the behavior of children and effect some change there, but our moral indignation has little effect on adults. I want to be less judgmental, and David’s ‘black spot’ metaphor spoke to me. I’d love to see you tackle this subject because your insight cuts like a knife. I keep looking for a stand-out quote of yours, but you make it so hard because every sentence you write is as good as the one before it.
August 28th, 2009 at 10:58 am
If a person cannot be judged on their behavior/actions, then they cannot be judged at all.
“Reality” is much too subjective a subject. Trying to explain “reality” is an excercise in trying to convince someone else of our own definitions of life.
If you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything.
August 28th, 2009 at 1:25 pm
“If a person cannot be judged on their behavior/actions, then they cannot be judged at all.” Exactly. It’s the not judging people at all that interests me on a personal level.
I think it was Barack Obama who said, “If you make friends with your enemies, they are no longer your enemies.” Befriending your enemies is no easy task, but it seems like the right thing to do, both for me personally and for our planet.