Have you ever heard of Malcolm Muggeridge?
Neither had I until a book I just finished mentioned his name.
Malcolm was born in Sanderstead, Surry, England, in March 1903. He died at the age of 87 in November 1990 in East Sussex, England.
Why write about Malcolm Muggeridge, you ask? It’s because when I come across interesting people, whoever they may be or whatever they have done, I want to share them with you, especially if they may have some gems of wisdom that will help you and me live better, more fulfilled lives.
With that, I think Muggeridge has some writing that speaks to us today. Malcolm was a writer, journalist, author and satirist.
He had an extraordinary insight into human behavior. He, however, was not a behavioral health professional, nor did he study behavioral health that I could find.
Some people, I have learned by talking and listening to them, have an innate ability to read people’s behavior. Have you ever known someone like that? Or maybe you are one.
These people are not the “see it, say it” types (I heard a comedian talk about “see it, say it” types).
“See it, say it” people are those who seem to have a preference or need to verbalize everything they see. It really doesn’t matter who is around or who they are talking to. “See it, say it” types verbalize everything.
Those of us who prefer internal dialogue before we verbalize (I tend to fall into this category) are sometimes taken aback by those with a preference for “see it, say it.” Internal dialoguers might think, “did they just say that?”
Indeed, they did. So, you had better just live with it, buster.
My dad’s mom just loved the word “buster.” Everything was “buster this,” or “buster that.”
I was always buster to her, especially when she was trying to make a point. Sometime in the future, I will share a funny story about my Grandma Red (as me and my three sister siblings called her) and her dearly loved word, “buster.”
But let me get back on track here. I want to be clear there is nothing wrong with “see it, say it” people or internal dialogues. These are just preferences and part of their own uniqueness.
Back to Malcolm Muggeridge.
After I share some of his famous sayings, I think you will agree he had a knack for summarizing people’s behavior.
“People do not believe lies because they have to, but because they want to.” Ponder that one for a bit. Insightful, yes?
Here’s another one: “It’s only dead fish that swim with the stream.”
I like this one: “All news is old news happening to new people.” Now that one can be brought down to the streets where we all live, don’t you think?
Two more for the road:
• “In the beginning was the lie and the lie was made news and dwelt among us, graceless and false..”
• “There is no such thing as darkness, only a failure to see.”
All his writings are filled with gems like these.
Maybe I have piqued your interest in reading Muggeridge, or maybe not.
My thought after reading some of his writings was, “how are you able to talk about things that we are struggling with today?”
“Well,” I told myself, “it’s because history just keeps on repeating itself”.
That’s a truism you can bank on, buster.
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Richard Stride is the current CEO of Cascade Community Healthcare. He can be reached at drstride@icloud.com.
