“Who
having known the Diamond will concern himself with glass?”
I
like this quotation from Rudyard Kipling's autobiographical work
Something of Myself very much.
Kipling's
words go straight to the heart. They say to me that people who have
encountered the best will not settle for or want to be involved with
anything less. I see his words as a very neat and clever way of
saying that anyone who has experienced the real thing will not be
fooled by a counterfeit or a cheap copy.
I
know from experience that this is not always the case. Some people
ignore, avoid and reject the diamond and home in on and embrace the
glass. I have seen innumerable examples of such twisted values in
the past, and often wondered why this should be.
I
am not talking about people who have never seen, heard of, read
about, experienced or imagined the best, the real deal; some people
have low horizons and few opportunities. I am not talking about
people who are unable to recognise differences, make comparisons or
grade and classify what they encounter; some people have limited
understanding and little ability to look at things objectively.
I
am not talking either about people whose diamonds may look like glass
to other people; sometimes 'diamond' may just mean the most suitable,
or the best that someone can envisage, achieve and attain.
Here
are a few examples from my own experience.
