Going Blind

‘An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.’ Mahatma Gandhi

I had a wonderful conversation with a young man recently that brought this quote to mind. He was angry with an adult in his life for behaving in a way that was clearly ‘in the wrong…’ He came to me seeking permission of sorts, permission to speak his mind and to put the ‘wrong do-er’ in their place. He was taken aback that I was able to acknowledge the fact that he was right but was unwilling to support him speaking his very strong opinion to the one who had earned his wrath. We talked at length about the fact that being right does not always mean that the world needs to hear that we are right. Sometimes the bigger part of virtue requires that we keep our rightness to ourselves… and in doing so we avoid losing our vision by poking someone else in the eye.