A Fable for the Men of Our Time

There once was a man who valued knowledge above all else.  Ultimately he foresook even family, friends in his search to know more than anyone.  He became more and more bitter as he never quite learned that having all knowledge is a impossible feat.  When friends sought him out, he pushed them aside in favor of his deluded quest.  When family called to him, in his jaded state of mind he chose to belittle them and cast them out of his life forever.  He traveled far and wide, slowly disappearing from the minds of those who had once loved him.  His store of knowledge grew and grew.  Eventually, his head became so large that he floated high into the sky, carrying only his books and papers with him.  He reveled in his new found ability to fly, especially the fact that he was the only man who had ever done so.  Soon he came upon other planets, collecting ever more stores of knowledge.  Of course, he never connected with anyone on these planets.  He merely asked for books and papers, then continued to float on his way.  As he aged, certain things began to vanish from his memory.  His family, his friends, his place of origin, his age, his name.  Even the reason he was seeking knowledge in the first place.  Eventually, even his vast collection of knowledge began to disappear.  His head slowly deflated, and his body withered into an empty shell.  No one ever knew him; he left behind no children, no legacy.  And he died alone, drifting somewhere very far from home.  Though you can never see him, men often hear him praying on their thoughts and insecurities.  He is the one that tells you that you must not feel, that you must be strong, that you must never cry.  He is the one that tells you to be a man!–and only men truly know what that means.  He is the reason we have war, and poverty.  The reason so many children starve, so many nations crumble and fall.  He is the true inspiration behind inhumanity, and he does this all in the name of logic and necessity.  His calling cards are rational thought and survival of the fittest.  All because he valued knowledge above all else.  So fathers hold your children close, sons love your fathers well–lest you become the dry husk of a man wafting mindless through space.

—David F.