yes, the “littles” are all an irresponsible bunch (most of them) guided by young men, eager with the college flush, actually hoping to cut a buck from the thing, starting with fiery ideals and large ideas, long explanatory rejection slips, and dwindling down, finally, to letting the manuscripts stack behind the sofa or in the closet, some of them lost forever and never answered, and finally putting out a tacked-together, hacked-together poor selection of typographically botched poems before getting married and disappearing from the scene with some comment like “lack of support.” Lack of
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I have so many things to say about this.
This is about people who don't try enough, yet keep complaining that the situation, the people, the society, and the world have failed them. Of course, context matters, people DON'T have the same starting point, but each man is aware of what's on their bag.
Thus the quality of each person's work can only be compared to what they are capable of. If you have more on your plates, give a higher quality to your work. If you are on the opposite side of the privileged, nothing can excuse you from putting your best effort, showing your best sincerity in your work. I want to put a lot of emphasis on sincerity because privileged or not, nothing can refrain you from giving your sincere effort.
I remember coming to a morning common course on the history of science and technology. I can see that the professor put a lot of time arranging the course and put a lot of thought into discussing and interacting with the student. So it broke my heart when I saw the students coming late and those who were taking it online didn't even try to appear as if they were listening to the lecture. What makes someone who excels differs from the one who doesn't is sincerity. You can't measure one's sincerity, only you can measure your own. You're the one who knows what's already on your plate, so you're the one who knows best what's stopping you from the things you want to do.
My time in graduate school leaves a lot to be desired. Why were things going that way? I graduated, but that's it, full stop. Yet, I know that I only have myself to blame. Reading this passage forced me to question myself: Had I been sincere during my time finishing my degree?
