Emulate No Man

Following the habits

Of “successful people”

Creates unsuccessful people.

 

Such concepts,

Such books,

Are for the mediocre

And unoriginal.

 

Schools force students

To read various authors.

 

To think about what the author meant.

And to learn from his skill.

 

This does not create

Authors.

 

It creates

Plagiarists.

 

Why shall any man

Mimic another.

 

Why shall any man

Attempt to follow the habits

Of another.

 

Society has no originality.

Thus,

It can only offer a way

To be a trite, and half-baked copycat.

 

Why shall any man

Seek to be like another.

 

Each man

Arises from his own unique circumstance.

 

Each man

Harbors his own talents.

 

Each man

Can create for himself

A set of possibilities.

 

Mimicking a successful person

Does not create

A successful person.

 

It creates

A mimic.

 

If a man has written

A great novel.

It is reasonable to appreciate his talent.

 

It is not reasonable

To study it

Or copy it.

 

Schools teach students

To read a “famous” author.

And write an essay

About the message the author

Was trying to get across.

 

Why shall any human

Be forced to do such a thing.

 

The business,

Leadership,

And self-improvement culture . . .

Writes about those who have become successful.

And teaches the people of the world

To study them.

 

Why shall any man

Wear another man’s underwear?

 

Why shall any man

Kiss another man’s toenails?

 

If a thing is not an Original,

“Success” has no meaning.

 

Shall no self-respecting man

Mimic another.

 

Shall he neither be envious of another’s talents,

Nor prideful of his own.

 

If a man is successful,

And has accomplished great things,

This is to be respected.

 

Not to be studied

Or copied.

 

Each man’s story

Is uniquely his own.

 

Each man’s possibility

Is uniquely his own.

 

If a man is successful

And accomplished.

That is for the man himself.

And no one else.

 

This is yet another example

Of society’s creation

Of paper humans.

 

What did the famous novelist mean

In this chapter?

 

What did the famous poet mean

In this passage?

 

Who

In the hell

Cares.

 

Of what utility,

And of what value,

Is that

To any human being

Besides the author himself.

 

So and so

Is the richest man in the world.

 

So and so

Has the most wins.

 

So and so

Has climbed the highest mountain.

 

That is,

In all sincerity,

A feat to be applauded

And respected.

 

Having applauded it,

Having respected it,

There is nothing more

To be said or done.

 

No man

Is worth being mimicked.

 

No man

Is worth being a mimic.

 

Originality.

Authenticity.

Genuineness.

Purity.

Art . . .

 

Shall a man

Find his own way

In this plastic and meager world.

 

Shall he honor himself

By emulating

No man.

 

 

Namaste.