August 2022 – The Art of Nathan Parkinson

“Everyone Is a Genius . . .” – Einstein?

Though it is disputed who first made this exact statement, I think it was marvelously said:

“Everyone is a genius; but if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”

Though, I believe an important distinction should be made: if you judge the fish unwisely, then you (not necessarily the fish) will believe the lie; only if the fish judges himself by erroneous standards will he believe himself to be incompetent. When we judge ourselves according to truth, we can have great confidence (with humility) despite the dismissive nature of others.

This also reminds me of a quote by Mark Twain, “The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.” I believe God has made each person uniquely special; there’s not another person exactly like you; so try lots of things till you find what you were made for and as Jim Elliot said, “Wherever you are, be all there! Live to the hilt every situation you believe to be the will of God.”

“You Don’t Know What Cannot Be Done.” – Toland

Nathan / 08/09/2022 / Nathan's Thoughts, Quotes / 2 Comments

In an interview of Orson Welles by Dick Cavett, Welles recounts the following situation early in his career. While beginning to make his first film, Citizen Kane, he was approached by cameraman Gregg Toland.

[Toland enters Welles’ office . . .]
Toland: I want to work in your picture; my name is Toland.
Welles: Why do you, Mr. Toland?
Toland: Because you’ve never made a picture, and you don’t know what cannot be done.

Leading up to his description of that brief conversation, Welles makes the following statement: “. . . Ignorance – there’s no authority in the world like it.” Welles’ and Toland’s statements really caught my attention. I’ve seen a similar saying by Shunryu Suzuki: “In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, in the expert’s mind there are few”; that brings a couple more to mind: “It always seems impossible until it’s done” (Nelson Mandela), and, “They did not know it was impossible so they did it” (Mark Twain).

Inexperience is both a blessing and curse. Being blind to what is and is not possible, you may be willing to take risks more-experienced people would not; you’ll bring a fresh perspective and perhaps even attempt to do what others know “cannot be done”; that means you’ll probably fail quite a bit, but in challenging assumptions you will discover which ones are true and which are false. Young blood can really shake up an industry.

I greatly appreciate the wisdom of Solomon to “Take fast hold of instruction; let her not go: keep her; for she is thy life” (Proverbs 4:13); listening to the counsel of wiser people is vital to our growth; but I also see value in respectfully, humbly challenging the presuppositions of those who came before us and proving the truth for ourselves. As another wise man once said, “Just because something seems impossible, doesn’t mean it isn’t easy” (Parkinson’s Law #21, T. S. Parkinson).

Citizen Kane went on to be enormously successful; though, I’ve not seen the film in a while, so I don’t necessarily recommend it, but rather the philosophy described by Welles and the others I’ve mentioned. Though experience is certainly desirable, your being a novice doesn’t have to be a negative.