Becoming decent, maybe even exceptional, comes from realizing that you ought to not adopt all the philosophies, lifestyles, and principles of great men or discount them entirely upon finding out the flaws in their character. Rather you take the best, hold it close to your chest, and use that to facilitate your own self actualization. It's only in accepting the potential pitfalls of being human do you allow that greatness to be cultivated within yourself.
No matter the seeming perfection of past figures, dig deep enough and you will find ugliness. As humans are aspiring and transcendent so are they pitiful and disgusting. To ignore the potential ugliness inside you is to ignore all the potential good as well. The only way to have a life of neither is to live a life of stagnation and mediocrity. Can't have the lowest of lows with no highs to compare them to. You can't realize the depth of your accomplishments without seeing the traps you could've fallen into. To walk the path of potential is to walk the path of temptation. Greatness is measured by how much of that potential was realized despite the temptation, regardless of the temptations we fell victim to
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