I Am Nobody Special
"i'm Sick Of Not Having The Courage To Be An Absolute Nobody"...
This is one of my favorite passages ever, from Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger
"I'm not afraid to compete. It's just the opposite. Don't you see that? I'm afraid I will compete- that's what scares me. That's why I quit the Theater Department. Just because I'm so horribly conditioned to accept everybody else's values, and just because I like applause and people to rave about me, doesn't make it right. I'm ashamed of it. I'm sick of it. [b]I'm sick of not having the courage to be an absolute nobody.[/b] I'm sick of myself and everybody else that wants to make some kind of a splash."
I really don't see what's wrong with being "a nobody." People thing they have to leave something behind, be remembered, do something great, or change the world to validate their existence. And I think that's simply not true. The people who do change the world, they're great, and more power to them, but I don't have that kind of ambition. My existence is already validated, because I am here, and doing what I want to do. I'm living my life, on my own terms, standards, and beliefs. I am indeed nobody special, and that's quite alright with me. :)
This is one of my favorite passages ever, from Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger
"I'm not afraid to compete. It's just the opposite. Don't you see that? I'm afraid I will compete- that's what scares me. That's why I quit the Theater Department. Just because I'm so horribly conditioned to accept everybody else's values, and just because I like applause and people to rave about me, doesn't make it right. I'm ashamed of it. I'm sick of it. [b]I'm sick of not having the courage to be an absolute nobody.[/b] I'm sick of myself and everybody else that wants to make some kind of a splash."
I really don't see what's wrong with being "a nobody." People thing they have to leave something behind, be remembered, do something great, or change the world to validate their existence. And I think that's simply not true. The people who do change the world, they're great, and more power to them, but I don't have that kind of ambition. My existence is already validated, because I am here, and doing what I want to do. I'm living my life, on my own terms, standards, and beliefs. I am indeed nobody special, and that's quite alright with me. :)
31-35, M