Scourge of Sycophants

We have destroyed art
And replaced it with flattery.

It is a great weakness of character to be afraid to venture for fear of being proven wrong, or made to appear stupid. The world is cluttered with masked men who dance around topics, bow past actual evidence, and merely tilt their cap to fact. Too busy mingling and gossiping to ever learn new stories, too busy boasting to be bothered by their own banality. The analogous cocktail disputes between the various parties, stirred by the same blandishments that almost have their own fanfare, so anticipated is their arrival. All this and the ball has barely begun...

We are all walking around masquerading as more intelligent counterparts of our actual selves, and ironically impeding our ability to reach that ideal.

Although it is a horrible cliché,I will allow myself the commonplace theme. It seems our view of life is far too trite anyway.
We must fall to walk, walk to run, and run to win the race.
Competitiveness is healthy but we should not lose sight of the greater goal. It may seem easy to defeat one, but it is easier to defeat oneself. No one should be afraid to reach towards the sun and grasp enlightenment. You may be blinded at first, and seem clumsy and ignorant but you will be the better for allowing yourself to appear less to others. One must display ignorance, in order to learn.