Help interpreting a quote by F. Scott Fitzgerald.?
Does it mean that you should look at an argument from all sides and not close yourself to all possibilities(compromise). Or is it deeper, as in the fact that you have to have hope and never give up even when things seem dark; such as when a teacher continues teaching kids even though that most students won't care but they can still make a difference in a few lives?
"The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function." – F. Scott Fitzgerald
Do you agree or disagree with the quotation? In 200 - 300 words explain your position, citing an example.
thanks for all your ideas. God bless =)
I don't think you necessarily have to "compromise" when viewing multiple possibilities. FSF is saying that there are several answers to the same question, and that the person who can see that each of these answers is right in its own way, and if that person can continue to function and not go crazy, then the person is intelligent. The following example is kind of basic...
Ask six people to describe the same dog with one word,. You will probably get six different answers. You would look at the answers (slobbery, loyal, big, little, smart, playful) and analyze them. You would need to intelligently consider if there is a correlation between the ideas that draw them together (you may have a big, loyal, slobbery dog), or if the ideas are opposing such as big and little, they you consider there could be different frames of reference.
When you open yourself up to multiple frames of reference, then you expand your intelligence to see more of the world, instead of just your space in it. You may have a big, loyal, slobbery dog, but your best friend might think you have a little smart and playful dog. Consider that the "little" dog is an Irish Setter, which could seem big to you, but because your friend always had Irish Wolfhounds, seems small to him/her. By seeing the dog through the eyes of your friend, you do not automatically dismiss his view of the same dog; the dog that is big to you, little to your friend, and mid-size by some other person's standards, is still the same dog. By understanding this, you continue to function without having to tear down the ideas of others to bolster your own.
SAI BABA - 82d Birthday (Part 2)
