something i want to share

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something i want to share
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Post # 1
A poem by by John Godfrey Saxe based on fable told in India.



It was six men of Indostan
To learning much inclined,
Who went to see the Elephant
(Though all of them were blind),
That each by observation
Might satisfy his mind

The First approached the Elephant,
And happening to fall
Against his broad and sturdy side,
At once began to bawl:
“God bless me! but the Elephant
Is very like a wall!”

The Second, feeling of the tusk,
Cried, “Ho! what have we here
So very round and smooth and sharp?
To me ’tis mighty clear
This wonder of an Elephant
Is very like a spear!”

The Third approached the animal,
And happening to take
The squirming trunk within his hands,
Thus boldly up and spake:
“I see,” quoth he, “the Elephant
Is very like a snake!”

The Fourth reached out an eager hand,
And felt about the knee.
“What most this wondrous beast is like
Is mighty plain,” quoth he;
“ ‘Tis clear enough the Elephant
Is very like a tree!”

The Fifth, who chanced to touch the ear,
Said: “E’en the blindest man
Can tell what this resembles most;
Deny the fact who can
This marvel of an Elephant
Is very like a fan!”

The Sixth no sooner had begun
About the beast to grope,
Than, seizing on the swinging tail
That fell within his scope,
“I see,” quoth he, “the Elephant
Is very like a rope!”

And so these men of Indostan
Disputed loud and long,
Each in his own opinion
Exceeding stiff and strong,
Though each was partly in the right,
And all were in the wrong!

Moral:

So oft in theologic wars,
The disputants, I ween,
Rail on in utter ignorance
Of what each other mean,
And prate about an Elephant
Not one of them has seen!

what do you think the actual moral of this poem?
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Re: something i want to share
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Post # 2
To dumb it down completely:

-Do not judge what you do not see and know.-
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Re: something i want to share
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Post # 3
Yeah, that pretty much sounds like the point. That and/or do not assume to know everything based on your own experience. I think a couple of quotes on my profile fit in here. :)

"I am the wisest man alive, for I know one thing, and that is that I know nothing." -Plato's Apology

"True knowledge exists in knowing that you know nothing and in knowing that you know nothing, that makes you the smartest of all." -unknown
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Re: something i want to share
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Post # 4
I enjoyed that quite a bit
Bravo.

Always,
Isadora
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Re: something i want to share
By:
Post # 5
An amusing muse.

~ Vladimier
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Re: something i want to s
By: / Novice
Post # 6
theologic wars.
It speaks of how each religion (and consequently denomination, or sect) takes a piece of something and draws a conclusion from it. About how none of them have actually seen God, and presume to know everything about God from what little they have experienced.
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Re: something i want to share
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Post # 7
It dosen't matter What the elephant is, it`s what you percieve it to be. If you think it is like a wall it is like a wall, if you think it`s like a tree then it`s like a tree. All of them were right. No one actualy Knows what an elephant is. If you and others believe it`s a 4 legged creature with a tail, 2 tusks and a trunk, then it is so. But then maybe we are the ones that are blind, and someone else could see an absolutly different creature altogether...
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