This Week's Quote Tuesday, Feb 14, 2006

A little government and a little luck are necessary in life, but only a fool trusts either of them. -- P. J. O'Rourke

To me, this means that to some extent, we control our own destiny. To this point, it is not sagacious to trust blindly. (A huge fault of mine.) It is necessary to do your own exploration and find out the facts for yourself, not just be spoon-fed everything that comes your way and swallow it whole. To question things, to question the status-quo, is a good thing, a necessary thing. If you put your entire fate and future in luck alone you may be missing some of the most obvious opportunities in life. I'm a very strong believer that as humans, we tend to see only what we look for and miss everything else. It makes me think of a joke my son loves to tell. A flood was coming and the people were told to evacuate. But one man refused, saying, "God will take care of me." The waters started to rise and he went up on his roof. His neighbor came by with a boat to pick him up but he refused, saying "God will take care of me. The water rose to the edge of the roof and the National Guard boat came by to pick him up, but he refused to go, saying "God will take care of me." Finally the waters rose up over the roof and an Army helicopter came by, dropping a rope ladder down for him, but he refused it, saying "God will take care of me." He drowned. At the pearly gates he confronted God, saying "I trusted you! Why didn't you save me?" God snapped, "I sent you two boats and a helicopter!" God sent those things to rescue the drowning man, but the man was only looking for a "miracle"- perhaps the hand of God reaching out for him. The drowning man missed all the other signs that God was sending him...