He was a difficult man. He thought differently and acted differently from the rest of us. He questioned everything. Was he a rebel or a prophet or a psychopath or a hero? "Who can tell the difference?" we said. "And who cares, anyway?"
So we socialized him. We taught him to be sensitive to public opinion and to the feelings of others. We got him to conform. He was a comfortable person to live with now. Well adjusted. We had made him manageable and docile.
We congratulated him on having achieved self-conquest. He began to congratulate himself too. He did not see that it was we who had conquered him.
A big guy walked into the crowded room and yelled, "Is there a fellow by the name of Murphy here?" A little fellow stood up and said, "I'm Murphy."
The big guy nearly killed him. He cracked five of his ribs, he broke his nose, he gave him two black eyes, he flung him in a heap on the floor. Then he stomped out.
After had gone we were amazed to see the little fellow chuckling to himself. "I certainly made a good of that guy," he was saying softly to himself. "I'm not Murphy! Ha, ha!
A society that domesticates its rebels has gained its peace. But it has lost its future.
Anthony de Mello
So we socialized him. We taught him to be sensitive to public opinion and to the feelings of others. We got him to conform. He was a comfortable person to live with now. Well adjusted. We had made him manageable and docile.
We congratulated him on having achieved self-conquest. He began to congratulate himself too. He did not see that it was we who had conquered him.
A big guy walked into the crowded room and yelled, "Is there a fellow by the name of Murphy here?" A little fellow stood up and said, "I'm Murphy."
The big guy nearly killed him. He cracked five of his ribs, he broke his nose, he gave him two black eyes, he flung him in a heap on the floor. Then he stomped out.
After had gone we were amazed to see the little fellow chuckling to himself. "I certainly made a good of that guy," he was saying softly to himself. "I'm not Murphy! Ha, ha!
A society that domesticates its rebels has gained its peace. But it has lost its future.
Anthony de Mello
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