Learning From Reversals

Have you been a situation where you stuck between two contradicting ideas, where one idea says something and there's another idea that just contradicts the first idea. Well, well, well, that's how I feel now. I'm stuck between several quotes which I try to sustain my principles and value system. One quote says this and there is just another quote that completely contrast with the first.

So I've made up my mind to learn from the reversals. In other words, I have made up my mind to stick with the quotes that have ideas and morals behind it, which has led to the publication of this article "Learning from Reversal".

In the words of Robert Greene, in his book " 48 laws of Power", he made mention of the fact that every quote has its reversal response. Like how he made mention of "Don't outshine your master" and yet he also said there you should outshine your master if he's being sluggish at seizing the initiative. So it goes to say that like there are laws and their expectation, the same applies to quotes as well.

So, in this article I will be talking about quotes and their counterparts and most of all the important need to know the counterpart to a particular quote in order to learn from it or grab the most important moral lesson behind the quote.

The first on the list of quotes and their reversal is:

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"Out of sight, out of mind."

Reversal - "Absence makes the heart grow fonder"

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They say out of sight is out of mind but yet how come absence can still make the heart grow fonder.

It's not clear, something is not right. Yeah, this is the contradicting situation your mind can get stuck in, which I made mention of earlier in this article. So by abiding by this quote, one will think if you are not present, then you will be forgotten. But yet the contradicting counterpart of the quote says absence makes the heart grow fonder. Wait a minute, let's apply the ideology of learning from reversals in this case, also bear in mind that both quotes have moral implications if you can decipher the information well enough. The first quote Out of sight, out of mind talks about the fact that if you are not present in a person's life or your presence and impact are not felt, then automatically you will be forgotten. While the counterpart of this quote says Absence makes the heart grow fonder, which means your absence can also be felt. But what the quote fails to tell you is the context of these quotes differ completely. The first quote applies only when you don't seize the initiative in making presence worthy moves towards people or even people who care about. So if you fail at doing this, then your presence will forgotten. Then the second quote works only when your presence has been felt and you at cared about which make your absence grow fonder.

Next on the list is

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"Never judge a book by its cover"

Reversal- "Clothes make the man"

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Once again another contradicting situation, you tell me I should not judge a book by it cover and yet you said clothes make the man. It just goes to a say that appearance should not deceive but yet looks matter. Once again it's a matter of understanding the context behind it.

The first quote makes reference to fact that one should not be quick to write anyone off just because of their looks but also bear in mind the second quote that appearance plays a role in how one might be addressed, which in the our society of today, appearance is what matters the most in gaining respect from others. This alone goes to explain the importance in understanding the essence in learning from the reversals. So in other words, when gaining a life-changing quote, also bear in mind the counterpart to such quote in order to gain most useful knowledge applicable to you.

We move on to the next reversal

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"It’s never too late to learn"

Reversal- "You can’t teach an old dog new tricks"

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I’m more than 100 percent sure that every scholar or individual interested in learning something must have encountered the saying that it’s never too late to learn. I can even say that this quote should be the most popular quote when it comes to inspiring anyone facing difficulty when learning. So as it well known, definitely it will come with its contradicting part which happens to be “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks”. So we should apply the learning from reversal in this situation.

We will come to understand that it is never too late to learn which means time or age should not be an interference when willingness to learn is present. But we should also bear that there are certain things which can be above our age grade or better still our pay grade. It is just like an adult trying to learn how to be a child again.

And the last quote that makes our list for today is:

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"Nothing ventured, nothing gained"

Reversal- "Better safe than sorry"

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The mindset of nothing ventured, nothing gained has built a strong resistance in the minds of people, thereby giving them the idea that nothing can be gained without risking something or even risking it all. This I can say has been the mindset of some big winners most especially in the field of poker. The bold willingness to risk it all has brought about huge wins, like it is well known that fortune favors the bold. But here comes the counterpart it’s better safe than sorry. So why will one quote tell me to be a bold risk taker and the other tells me to also play it safe. This when wisdom comes in by holding on to both quotes. For the first quote, hold to the idea that most times be willing to make bold moves after well calculated risk and at the same time know when to cut your losses and move on and also weigh the risk in comparison to the expected return.

In Conclusion...

pay close attention to quotes and their contradicting part but most of all, being willing to spot the reversals in order to learn the most valuable lesson from it. Also, with the presence with numerous quotes and their counter, I will still talk more about it in other articles to come. Hope you look forward to it.

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