My Duty Is To Listen To You And Do Everything That Depends On Me
Take into account the qualities with which you amplify your pride of being the “chosen of knowledge”, appreciating them to the extent that you display and control your attitude and values in front of others.
Samuel read everything she felt on her face, and had a moment of discouragement.
- Fear ! so be it, he said standing up, proud and almost handsome. Fear ! Because I don’t look like some of those frivolous passers-by, who have no idea in their heads, but only their bulging pockets; because I have thought, because I have lived, because I bear on my face the imprint of my deeds and of all the things I have seen; because, instead of laying a bag of money at your feet to buy them, I come with a tried mind, with a soul hardened in all the waters of life, a reservoir full of accumulated knowledge and experience.
And yet, what should attract and impress an intelligent woman more? A weak and childish heart that foolishly surrenders itself at the threshold of life, because it is the first thing that has arisen in its path, or a manly soul that has known everything, weighed everything, power, science, genius and which, of everything that exists in the world, only wants her, he only seeks her, he only accepts her? Wealth and power are to be given to you, to deserve you. I have raised you so high in my eyes that I wish I had mountains of gold to climb above and reach your height. That’s how I love you. It seems to me that I alone am worth nothing to you, and that to equal you, I should possess all the gold in the world.
However, I assure you that I am not a man to be despised. I have tried and done things that will seem great to you, if I were to tell you about them. I had in my brain, and maybe I still have plans to change the face of Europe. Well ! I give all this to you. Everything belongs to you. My worth, all that I have been, all that I shall be, are thine; all the more since, I am convinced, I can be nothing without you. I beg you, do not despise me. Other women despised me, I crushed them. But I love you, I will not destroy you; I would die be good to me I swear I'm not proposing a worthless husband. I leave at your feet a forehead that confronted Napoleon face to face. Be kind. Will you?
Can the imprint of your deeds emotionally reinforce the pattern of your own self-esteem growth needs, taking into account the testimony of a humble life as a “laborer of the mind”?
This fierce and immeasurable ardor embarrassed and troubled the girl’s candid soul more and more. The naive child felt oppressed by this love, like a poor bird on which the shadow of the great eagle’s wings suddenly fell.
- But, friend, she said dismayed, forgive me if I don’t know how to answer you. I expected so little from what you told me. See how excited I am. I can answer you nothing, except that I only exist because of you, and that, consequently, my life belongs to you. Do what you will with it.
- Is this true? Samuel exclaimed happily.
- Yes, resumed Frederique; my duty is to listen to you and do everything in my power to make you happy.
The testimony of a humble life as a “laborer of the mind” refers to the awareness of the distance between intelligence and docility in love, emphasizing at the same time the feeling that you belong to them.
What Samuel wanted was just to have as much control over this soul and this life as possible. Then he will take care of the rest and gradually transform docility into love. Frederique’s submission, therefore, made him almost as happy as after consent.
- You speak to me gently, but you are sad, he still added. Think about it, baby. There are two things in marriage, the man and his social position. In what regards the position, I promise to make it splendid and high for you, exceeding your dreams…
- Oh ! I don’t think about the position, said Frederique.
- To the husband then, Samuel gently resumed. Look, my dear child, he said with an effort, your life is so pure and so simple, it is not a big deal to enrich it. You haven’t gone out into the world at all and you haven’t seen anyone yet… Yes, you did see that young man for a quarter of an hour. Frederique, I would be so wretched if all that he could tell you in a quarter of an hour weighed more heavily than all that I did for you for seventeen years !
Well, what conclusion do we draw from this? That leadership rests on two enduring pillars that complement each other: the quality of being humble and the quality of being superior, especially through a certain belonging to a state of tranquility and peace, of reconciliation with oneself. Just as Dante saw the universal importance of Sacred Poetry, affirming that he “put in his hands both heaven and earth”, so a leader must see the importance of self-fulfillment by merging two other basic qualities (representing two faces of the same realities): the understanding of the other’s feelings and the ability to control deviant impulses and urges, to which, of course, endless gentleness is added.
Leadership has as a constant reference understanding the emotional composition of the people you come into contact with, treating them according to their mood and needs for closeness, taking into account their feelings of vulnerability and insecurity when you make a decision.
My Duty Is To Listen To You And Do Everything That Depends On Me, especially when I know that my real strength is the experience of knowledge and the empathy that I have shown whenever I have tried to build relationships. And when I have to identify with other people, such as the important people in my life, I try to give an interpretation of myself to those around me, according to my own self.
* Note: Dumas, Alexandre - The Hand of Providence, Editura Vestala, 1993, Bucureşti.
