Tuesday 15 May 2018

In defence of living on one’s knees

There is this old aphorism that various macho teenagers throw around with considerable bombast, and which I myself threw around back in the day, when I was young, dumb and full of come.

“I would rather die on my feet than live on my knees.”

Prudence gets such a bum rap in popular culture, but there is maturity in learning to play the game in such a way that you win the war, even if you concede some battles, and certainly avoid going out in a blaze of glory.

“It is better to live quietly for a cause than to die loudly for one.”*

Live on my knees? Hell yeah. Then, once the moment is right, I shuffle around at half-height, collecting the weapons of all the bravado-toting big-shots who died on their feet. Because that way, I arm myself to confront the enemy on my  terms, when I’m  ready, and when I do... I win.



*Paraphrased from Major Kusa Motoko, who was herself quoting J. D. Salinger.

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