Demosthenes Is A Lonely, Bitter Old Man

.I.

I knew this guy in college. None of the women in school were good enough for him. They were too lazy, or too arrogant, or too obsessed with looks, or too plain, or else otherwise lacking in some way which made them unacceptable to him as a mate, or even as a girlfriend. Subsequently, this guy had a lot of free time that he was expecting to spend with his perfect woman. The problem he overlooked is, his standard was such that no mortal woman could meet it, and so he was always disappointed. And naturally, he could never agree that the problem was his expectations. No, it was always that this woman was just not honest enough, and that one just didn’t look below a person’s surface.

At the time, I thought this guy was a bit strange, expecting perfection even after seeing the reality of the world. But I see in politics and ideology the same demand for perfection, the utter rejection of even the smallest flaw.

It just doesn’t seem like a good strategy to me. That guy I knew, never did get married, and by what I could see, he was not happy with his choice, not nearly so happy as the “fools” who settled for someone imperfect but human, and whose good qualities were appreciated.