To Err is Human, To Learn Anew is Divine

It is a grave mistake in judgment for anyone to assume that they truly know the identity of anyone else. We, as the presumptuous and arrogant creatures we are, are fond of thinking that our surroundings are always crystal clear, and that every other person in this world of ours lives in glass houses, with all their secrets and mysteries clear to the world. The truth is, whether our hypocritical personae allow us to see it or not, no one human can ever know everything there is to know about another. There will always be new facets of their personality, new dimensions of a person that were previously unseen, and this will prevent the average person from trusting without consequence.

They say that it is possible to trust on faith. To trust that a person you may know and love, or a perfect stranger as a matter of fact, they say, is god-like. To trust in the goodness of humans is what has been preached to us for so long. But for us to err so extensively that we would believe that people can be easily read, that they can be seen for what they are with our frail and deceiving eyes, is prominent on the list of the numerous human flaws. Can you honestly say, without a shadow of a doubt, that you know everything there is to know about someone close to you? Your husband or wife? Your mother or father?

We, as much unlike the divine as we are, have secrets that we can never tell. There are always deep and dark recesses within us, little nooks and crannies, where we like to hide events or memories in our lives that may be sacred to us, or perhaps it is things about us that we just don't wish to share. We like to tuck away all the little imperfections about us so that we are not belittled in the perception of others. But just as drinking a toxic dose of poison, hiding things from not only yourself, but from others, for mere vanity, is hazardous. We cannot trust in our own instincts to protect us from the secrets of others, or even our own.

Do not assume you know anything about me, even if you've known me for most of the years of my life. And I shall return the courtesy of not assuming that I know you.

We must create the antidote for our own poison...