“It is only by tracing things to their origin, that we can gain rightful ideas of them, and it is by gaining such ideas that we discover the boundary that divides right from wrong, and teaches every man to know his own.”

Thomas Paine, writing in one of his later works “Agrarian Justice” speaks of how, through diligence of thought, by following a logical path back to the origin of a thing, or to what is hidden to any that do not pursue this path, we can begin to learn of the true nature of things.

This concept pervades our daily lives, both of individuals and of nations.

We may see a homeless man laying on the sidewalk early one morning and instinctively feel a sense of mild disgust, or pity, or superiority. But what do we know of this man? It is easy to make wide sweeping generalizations. But unless we know his story, trace back the path of events and situations, decisions this man may have made, or events that shaped his life, we can not know in any real sense what it is that brought him now to lie on the sidewalk with nothing more than the ragged clothes on his back for warmth and a cardboard box for protection.

In such a situation, where we can’t possibly hope to know what is true for this man, we do well to trace back our own route that has led us to be walking by this man just now, and perhaps be thankful of our own fortune, than to be disgusted or pitiful of another’s perceived misfortune.

And from this example we see our days are peppered with such happenstance; where, with just a moment of reflection, we understand that much of what we think we know of something or someone before us is but a facade of the truth that lay beneath. And through that moment of reflection, we are allowed the opportunity to, at the very least, acknowledge that there is much in this world we will never comprehend unless we take the time to stop and really look.