History is replete with numerous instances that, “still water runs deep”. Time and again we have seen the quietest of all minds, the reserved ones of them have proven to carry a treasure trove of brilliant ideas within themselves.
But what is the meaning of this quote? It means a quite or a shy person has a lot of knowledge within him, he can be quite a different person from what he seems to be, such people are introvert in nature and it’s really difficult to know them. Such people can sometimes be dangerous too. They can plot treacherous plans without letting a single soul know about it.
Extrovert people on the other hand are quite easy to know and judge. They talk a lot, they are not shy about their feelings, and one can easily understand their mental state just by looking at them. They are more expressive about their feelings and the depth in their character is often missing.
This goes in tandem with the famous saying of the romans “vasa vana plurimum sonant” which literally translates to “an empty vessel makes more noise”.
People who put up a charade of knowledge are the ones who own commotion, while knowledge and wisdom resides within the calm and composed.
These people usually stay aloof from the society and seldom follow the herd because their thoughts are usually unique and of a higher stature. As Bertrand Russel once said “do not judge the eccentric in opinion because every opinion now accepted was once eccentric”.
Hence, to get to the bottom in other words, to know such people fully one have to study their behavior, their thoughts and their attitude. Only then can one know such people to their very deep footing.
But not like there’s only negativity all around. There are people who changed the face of the world with their revolutionary ideas and tactics. There are people who made our lives better with their knowledge and inventions.
A little insight into the life of the revolutionary physicist Albert Einstein was not at all a popular student neither were his ideas ever considered. His teachers or the world did not know about his revolutionary ideas refuting the conventional Newtonian mechanics.
As a child he had been always quiet and reserved. Even as an adult he never involved in vigorous propaganda to spread his ideas rather, he remained modest about his scientific opinions and it were mainly his peers who facilitated in the active publishing of his scientific findings.
Not only in the field of science shifting our focus have we found numerous such people in the creative sphere also. The trailblazing American film maker Steven Spielberg, who broke all conventions of contemporary film making, is not a person of many words.
He has been and is a quiet man. He speaks through his characters without getting himself into picture. Movies like ET, Jurassic Park and many more have been breaking the ubiquitous humdrum and ushering a new era sci-fi movies.
Perhaps one of the best examples of quiet minds bombarding the world literature with his thought provoking writings is Rabindranath Tagore. As a child he loved loneliness and spent most of his time in the empty rooms of jorasanko thakurbari, which moulded his inner self and transformed him into a quiet person who filled the literary world with his unequivocally loud thoughts through his silent writing. He has created his numerous works which has even stood the test of time.
Not only in the field of creativity there are people in the field of sports to who have proved this proverb right. For example Usain Bolt. We all know about the fastest man on earth. He is the one who has beaten his own records. With time he has refined himself and shaped herself to what he is now.
But was he always like this? No, peeking into his personal life we find that he has an exclusively introvert character. A character whose actions speak more than his words. Day in day out he toiled without letting anybody know what he going through. And all that shaped him into what he is now.
In the field of inventions Steve Jobs is another big name. He is pioneer of the so called apple industry. One visionary changes the game. Ipad, Iphone, Tab he has gifted the world his numerous inventions. Quite ironically his first workshop was his backyard garage. Yes he started his life there. No publicity, no big office just a garage.
Such are these people. They silently pursue their own journey and come out in flying colors.
But there are people who misuse their knowledge, their gravity to influence their people to get out whatever they want from them. Heard of ‘blue whale’? It is also an invention. An invention coming from a creative mind to take away the lives of all who fall in his trap. Hence we need to differentiate between good and bad. We need to separate the water from the milk and see are the still waters actually deep and if they are then how much is it?
Creative minds will be there and there will be people to destroy it as well. An insight into the lives of these also helps us to understand as to which category we belong. How much deep are we? If we get the answer to this question then well will be able to analyses our character for a betterment and fulfilling our lives dreams.
“Strike the iron while it is still hot”- we have to rectify ourselves while there is still time or there soon be another Osama Bin Laden or a Hitler.
These men also had revolutionary ideas. They had intelligence. They could have the face of the world. But they turned out to be something else. Something more fatal.
All these instances speak out loudly in their own words the fact that “still water always runs deep” be it good or bad, and we can never take anything at face value.
Really helpful