“Imitating is something which is innate in the human spirit.”
Umberto Echo
In a letter written on 15 August 1781 from his Vincennes prison cell, the Marquis de Sade told his wife that man’s natural character is to imitate. He said that it was only by imitating the vices of others that he had earned his misfortunes. A bit of trivia – the word sadism was coined as a result of his actions and attributed to his name.
The philosopher Eric Hoffer said that when people are free to do as they please, they usually imitate each other. Now I wonder, why do we struggle so much to be ourselves, to be authentic? Why the façade, the disguise, the smoke-screen? Humanity nearly always follows the tracks made by others and proceed in their affairs by imitation, even though they cannot entirely keep to the tracks of others or emulate the abilities of their models, as Machiavelli claimed in his work “The Prince”. Should a prudent person always follow in the footsteps of great individuals and imitate those who have been outstanding ones? Should such a prudent person behave like those archers who know the capabilities of their bow and aim a good deal higher than their objective, not in order to shoot so high but so that by aiming high they can reach the target?
My question to you today, to what degree are you authentic and to what degree do you imitate life? More so, to what degree do you live your life as you choose it to be lived? All I am asking from you today is that you shall strive for authenticity. It truly is not that difficult.
Our dispensation is characterised by imitation,
for so seldom do we live authentic lives…
We are like bees, buzzing around in common hives,
working eagerly in our imitative consternation.
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