“Has the bottle of wine knowledge of its worth without the connoisseur to name it? Has the book that has been translated extensively knowledge of its own worth, or even of the worth of knowledge within it, without another to name it? No.
Those who say that the one can only define themselves, are wrong.
This is the mindset of a someone who believes them to be the last person remaining on earth. That they have defeated all opponents, are safe because no one dares to challenge them, and the status they place upon themselves is ‘free to roam’.
They are people who have awoken to find themselves standing as the ruler to every forest and every lake. That is, they are the epitome to every fragment of arrogance a human has ever displayed, either spoken by word, or revealed by gesture of hand.
Where is the contentment in knowing that one’s own worth is only judged by the self? These are people who believe themselves incapable of being controlled or dominated. It opens up vulnerability, and even of themselves, they are unable to contain their own weaknesses.
That is, again, a belief in the comfort of loneliness. Sheltered by either a corner, or by complete darkness, that is the soul of such a person.
They are also people to believe that a friend is the only sort of person to ever show honesty. This is an untrue assumption.
One’s enemy will show more truth than ever a friend will speak of it. That is because one always avoids their vulnerabilities. That is to say that such people always lie to themselves. In every battle a human faces, or every trial, or every discipline, there is always discovery. That is to say that the greatest of discovery always comes from knowing one’s enemies.
And within a world with a mindset that tells the individual to only trust friendship, and to be the only one to define themselves, makes the individual without discovery. They are stagnant. And when something is stagnant for too long, it begins to decline.
To imagine the object when it rises, it must stay still for a moment, before it descends.
Such truth from an enemy is always greater than ever a friend will show. How is this? It is because a friend is already known. An enemy is unknown, and most certainly because he’s always avoided.
And most of all, a friend will never be fully honest with their own friend, will be fearful of speaking directly about another’s flaws, for fear of becoming their enemy.
From an enemy, worth is judged.
From a friend, worth is stagnant, and age never carries along the maturity one is supposed to manifest of themselves, through wisdom.”