Sometimes,
I think I was born into the wrong time.
I live by a code of honor that this world, or at least as much as I know
of it, abandoned long ago. I say I live
by it, perhaps what I ought to say is that I believe in it; because, as we all
know, what we believe is often a far cry from what we practice. I certainly am no different in that
respect. I make as many mistakes as
anyone else. I deliberately make the
wrong choice just as often as anyone you’ll ever meet. I suppose the difference, then, is not in the
balance of wrong as opposed to right, but rather in the definition of the two,
and the boundaries between them.
I believe
in living honestly, but I do not necessarily believe that lying is always
wrong. I believe in keeping one’s word;
because if you don’t have that, then what do you have? Relationships are based on trust, to a varying
extent. This is readily apparent with
friendship and romance, however, it is equally true with business partnerships,
bank accounts, employment, even simply getting in one’s car and driving.
Having a
job is an employer trusting an employee to do a job. The employee, in turn, trusts his employer to
pay him for doing his job. When one puts
money in the bank, one trusts that it will still be there when one
returns. Every time one drives anywhere,
one trusts that the other drivers will obey the laws of the road.
I believe
in loyalty. I believe that friendship
ought to mean more than a passing liking for someone. I believe that ‘friend’ is not merely an
empty word, a designation for someone with whom one passes the time. It is a bond shared between two people, and
once made, it is not easily broken.
Friendship is a promise, a promise to love, a promise to care for, a
promise that a space, however large or however small, in your heart will always
belong to them. It is a promise to
help. However cliché, it is a promise to
be a shoulder to lean on. Of course, as
with anything, there are degrees of friendship, but the basic principle remains
the same.
I believe
in courage. I believe that one ought to
do what is right even, and perhaps especially, when they are frightened of the
consequences. I believe that courage is
doing what’s right, even when you know you’ll get knocked down. I do not think that courage is the absence of
fear, quite the opposite, in fact.
Courage is when you’re as scared as it gets, and you chose—despite the
fact that it is unbearably hard—to face your fear and do what you must, despite
it.
You can call
me crazy, old-fashioned, deluded, naïve.
It may be that you would be right.
Frankly, I simply do not care. I
am as I am, and that is how I intend to stay.
—The Shadow Knight
