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On Confidence

The School of Life

“The way to greater confidence is not to reassure ourselves of our own dignity; it’s to come to peace with our inevitable ridiculousness. We are idiots now, we have been idiots in the past, and we will be idiots again in the future—and that’s OK. There aren’t any other available options for human beings.”

—The School of Life


the place where we once had a picnic
is now underwater

that one thick branch
of the shade tree
is now hovering
over the rippling surface

its trunk submerged—
holding its breath
for us

Last updated: August 8, 2023