On the frustration of my bittersweet smiles
‘It is only people who possess firmness who can possess true gentleness. In those who appear gentle it is generally only weakness, which is readily converted into harshness.’ De La Rochefoucauld, Moral maxims (479).
I was never firm. I’ve always looked for compromises in a gentle way, surely out of fear of conflict. But I never thought of my gentleness as a weakness. I believed it made me stronger. Yet, over time, and now that I read his lines, harshness arises in the form of resentments and frustrations hiding behind my bittersweet smiles...
Read more