..out of the dark

And I said, well that's remarkable. And she told me yes, put that phrase in the paper, but the fact is that it's not remarkable. History, she said, is full of these things. Politicians, she said, tend to rise to the top in this way through their ambition and skill. In being skilful about what they are supposed to do. I said, well that's all right then, they are skilled in what they're supposed to do so they deserve the position, and everything is fine. And she said well, you see, being skilled in something you're supposed to do, and being skilled in what you need to succeed are not necessarily the same thing. Laughable, I said, that's just not being good at anything and tricking people into believing you're good. That's just dishonest. And she smiled and said yes, but no. The ideals they stand for and represent are proper and good, and be thankful, she said, of politicians who have some expertise in what they do, and who know how it is to be a person. Like our prime minister who used to be a doctor, and mr. Clinton who knew about foreign countries and political organisation.

I said, so you're telling me there's something more to leadership than just skill and intelligence. And she looked at me - she had never completed school herself, and had been a housewife all her life - and she said that's right. "But it will help if you know things nevertheless".

This is not a made up story, and I often wrote school- papers the day before I was supposed to turn them in afterwards, and things of that sort. But I'll never forget that.