“It is curious that physical courage should be so common in the world and moral courage so rare.” (Mark Twain)
Curiosity is an interesting phenomenon. At first glance you might think that a person could do without it. It’s a pesky twitch in the back of your head that persists in propelling you to find out why yawns are contagious and taxicabs tend to look like refurbished police cars. When you think about it though, curiosity is the tool that shapes you into the unique person that you are. The most intelligent people are not necessarily born with an innate ability to soak up information. Rather they are possessed with this need to know, to explore, learn, and absorb everything that they can. And it is this need that makes the world go round. After all, what was it that drove Benjamin Franklin to invent the light bulb and perfect the glass armonica? Are you convinced that it was solely the longing for wealth and prestige that motivated Marco Polo to explore Asia and China? How is it that at this very moment there are archeologists sifting through dirt and applying aloe to soothe their sunburned arms trying to unearth a disintegrating chamber pot? Why are biologists wrinkling their foreheads in concentration as they peer through microscopes attempting to discover the 357th kind of salamander?
But as humans have a tendency to; curiosity is taken to morbid extremes. People experiment to see how much pain can be tolerated. How high they can climb, how deep they can drill. How much violence and destruction must be committed before I attract the public’s attention.
Curiosity didn’t kill the cat. Man did in order to dissect its innards.
Invest in your curiosity and nourish it daily. But beware of your weaknesses, show courage and stick to your morals.
I’m curious as to what you think. Comment below.
Never pondered such an innate desire ;)
ReplyDeleteIf only physical/moral courage were the other way around :/