I remain deeply astonished, and at times even hurt, to encounter people who have known me for more than fifty years and who, suddenly, seem to be discovering me anew by questioning my abilities. For a long time, I wondered why such doubt emerged so late, like suspicion out of season. Gradually, the answer made itself clear.

This doubt does not speak about me. It speaks about them. To acknowledge today who I have become, or perhaps who I have always been, would force them to reconsider their own judgments. Yet some stubbornly refuse to revisit their past certainties. To step back would be to accept, when facing the mirror, that they were wrong, sometimes gravely so. That they judged too quickly. That they confused self confidence with superiority. It is true, after all, that the path of ignorance is paved with fine editions.

At the time, they believed themselves at the top, and from that comfortable vertical position, others could only be below. To admit today the worth of those they once looked down upon would mean cracking that old inner structure. So they choose doubt, minimization, and questioning of what nevertheless asserts itself with clarity. Not out of insight, but out of fear. The fear of recognizing that the mistake was not in the other, but in themselves. It is a persistent injustice, almost silent, yet incredibly violent. For it denies time, effort, growth, and above all, truth.

FM