| By: Arius of Treve |
- RAIDERS OF GOR, Pg. 90
This is probably my favorite quote from the Gorean novels. It is one that most probably passed over in the rush of reading, or lost as other passages of particular interest were found. It is a simple and straightforward line of words, but at the same time, at least for me, one that invokes great imagery and feeling.
"I was alone, but I had my arm, and its strength, and the Gorean blade."- RAIDERS OF GOR, Pg. 90
Those words speak volumes to me. They are a focus of sorts, and a point of reflection, perhaps even suggestive of a personal code... one rallying me to move ahead against any opposition... challenging me to stand for myself and rely on what I alone can provide... demanding I put aside whatever personal doubts or fears may exists, and raise my head to face what is before me.
"I was alone, but I had my arm, and its strength, and the Gorean blade."- RAIDERS OF GOR, Pg. 90
Part of being a man is being able to stand up and stand alone... be it against the challenges fate has selected for you, or in support of those convictions you claim as your own. A man might falter in the face of these obstacles. He may lack the ability to well support his claims. He might even fail under the numbers and the pressure. But that does not change the fact that he takes that initial stand for what he believes in, and be it fail or succeed, he never shows the challenge his back.
Now some men might stand amongst others - comrades who share his beliefs and together support one another. But still, each alone must make the initial choice to take this stand, to take that place amongst his comrades and not fail them, himself, or the cause that is claimed. He must find that reason which steels his resolve and lifts his eyes to meet what is ahead. He finds this inside of himself, rooted in what he believes and what he cherishes enough to defend. And it is there that the personal strength to not fail these things flows through him. This to me is the mark of a true man, or at least one who is true to himself.
It is very easy to go along with the crowd, to speak the words you already know others want to hear, and to cheer the voices that surround you. Those that simply follow with no real personal belief, being swayed by the moment and wishing to appear as those around them, in part live a lie and often in their hearts know this to be true. A life absent of purpose and conviction is a life not truly lived as one's own. And convictions found but left untouched comprise a life of theories and ideas that lacks the courage and determination to make them real.
A man finds his own truths in life, and earns them through the difficulties he must face in finding what they are. Once found, he holds on to all that each contains, no matter how many or how few may agree. If that truth was truly earned, it is not something that could ever be easily relinquished or betrayed. These convictions and the lessons that paved the path to their finding, define the character of the man. He may walk with the crowd if it leads to where he feels he should go, but he says "no," in the midst of even the closest of friends, if the path being shown is wrong for him.
Others may look at this man, and think he walks alone. But in truth he has the company of his beliefs, and the knowledge that in his loyalty to them, he has not betrayed what are perhaps the most important "friends" of all. Such a man is never truly alone, for he can reflect upon his own actions with pride and be happy in his own company. While the man who fails himself is the one who really knows solitude, for no matter how many nodding others may surround him, he knows what he has failed.
"I was alone, but I had my arm, and its strength, and the Gorean blade."- RAIDERS OF GOR, Pg. 90
No man is always brave. Each knows fear. But when he faces obstacles which make him doubt himself, what he falls back on to find his courage and direction are the truths he has earned in life, the ideals he has entrusted his faith in, and the things he has built his life upon and holds dear. It is here that he finds his strengths, in those things which he has taken into his heart and placed a value upon that is too much to lose.
No man has never known failure. Each man at one time faces a challenge that he cannot overcome. But what would be the greater failure... to not succeed in overcoming the challenge, or to never take it up?
"I was alone, but I had my arm, and its strength, and the Gorean blade."- RAIDERS OF GOR, Pg. 90
Yes, even alone, we each have our own strengths. And even if we fail, the fact remains that one was true to himself, and in that alone, in that most of all, a victory can be claimed.
- Arius of Treve
© 1999, 2001 All Rights Reserved
© 1999, 2001 All Rights Reserved
