boldness is you take risks

courage could imply you take wise risks, while mere fearlessness and boldness could be recklessness, or absence of fear – not the wise overcoming of fear

 

arrogance is you’re stubborn

maybe you talk too much too

or maybe you don’t talk that much — you just don’t change your mind — even when confronted with contrary evidence

or change your mind too slowly

while holding your positions too strongly

 

too strongly would merely be CONSISTENTLY OVERESTIMATING THE SUBJECTIVE PROBABILITY of being RIGHT

so on a meta-level — that too could be classified under the umbrella of failing to update one’s worldview — in this case one’s confidence in one’s understanding and predictions and convictions

 

You can be bold without being arrogant

A gambler doesn’t arrogantly assert that he’ll hit his flush draw. He merely is willing to take that risk.

 

You can be courageous without being arrogant

You insisting on a certain course of action is not you insisting that it’s the only right course of action

It is merely the only right course of action that you’re cognisant of

You believing it to be right behoves you to act in accordance with it

Courage is to act so despite resistance

 

…NOT against the others, NOT against the reality

IN SPITE of it,

You don’t resist others out of any perverse principle

If they are on your side — they are on your side

If they are against you — they are against you

You still merely do what you think is right

You don’t argue against them

You only ever argue what you believe in

You don’t argue against reality

You argue what reality is like

 

I will concede you’ll be called arrogant anyway, whether you’re arrogant or not

This is because the mere fact of you holding beliefs contrary to others will insult others

If they try to change your mind — and fail — they’ll call you stupid, or ignorant, or malicious, or plain arrogant

Even if you’re perfectly willing to change your mind, and don’t overplay your hand beyond what you can demonstrate with highest confidence

 

I will also concede that a lifetime of going against the grain makes you accustomed to being at odds with others,

There’s a kind of reframing going on — where this conflict, disagreement, eccentricity — becomes almost a badge of honour

And then the symbol supplants the real thing

You’re not a contrarian because it’s a fancy thing to be

You’re a contrarian because you hold different beliefs

You can’t fake it

You can’t acquire it cheaply

If you’re not abnormal in a positive way — then you’re just a fucking freak, and a loser

 

Be courageous and bold to:

try things

fail

own who the fuck you are

own every mistake you’ve ever made

live the way you wanted

blaze your own trail

put yourself out there, put your ideas out there — let the world humiliate them — then gracefully accept that beating

you don’t know your ceiling until you’ve smashed your head against it

you don’t learn anything from that lesson unless you accept the truth about it