Staying True to Truth
In Act 1 Scene 3 of Hamlet, Lord Polonius delivers one of
the more memorable lines in the history of theatre: “This above all: to thine
ownself be true.” This Shakesperean sentiment has traveled through the years to
the point where few actually realize it came from the bard. We simply know it
because it has been so widely used and believed. But what does it mean?
Some today resort to this aphorism when protecting their own
desires against common sense or at least the sound arguments of their
opponents. It becomes shorthand for “I’m entitled to do what I want to do, the
way I want to do it, when I want to do it.” For this group the line becomes a
license for self-centered living.
Others consider that it speaks the truth about
self-interest. We must remain true to whatever it is that best promotes our
wellbeing. In this sense, the statement becomes synonymous with looking out for
yourself, pulling your own strings, and generally ordering your life so that
you come out on top as much as possible.
But there is a truth about literature that must not be
overlooked here. Every piece of written communication, be a letter, book, play
or any of a number of other literary instruments, derives its meaning from the
intention of the author. The beginning place of meaning for any written word is
“what did the original author intend the original audience to understand from
the words that were written?”
If we run back to Hamlet, Act 1, Scene 3 we’ll find the rest
of the quote: “This
above all: to thine ownself be true,
and it must follow, as the night the
day,
thou canst not then be false to any man.” Shakespeare is talking, not
about self-interest or selfish desires, but about an ethical consistency that
arises from the core values of one’s being. To be true to self is to be unwavering
in one’s convictions and practice as measured by that set of beliefs one has
come to hold as fundamental. We might paraphrase this sentiment as “Above
everything else, don’t compromise your personal values, and if you remain true
to them, you can’t be false to anyone. They will see you as consistent even if
they disagree with you.”
I
think Shakespeare is right. To the extent to which our thoughts, words, and
deeds conform to our core convictions we become trustworthy individuals, not
open to the charge of hypocrisy. But there is a catch. We actually have to have
a consistent set of ethical beliefs first.
By
a consistent set of ethical beliefs I mean a set of core convictions about the
world and ourselves. Whatever your worldview, it has to be cohesive and
coherent. It has to be able to explain why there is something rather than
nothing. It has to explain why evil exists, and how suffering and pain can be
explained coherently. Additionally, it has to give a substantive reason why
life has meaning, and whether or not history is really going somewhere or
merely spinning slowly down to die.
Today
the post-modern ethos is shouting that such consistent belief systems are not
only old fashioned but fatal. In attempting to explain our world they actually
confine authentic, creative thinking and living, or so they want us to believe.
But
there is real danger here. If we stop having any core truth, to what shall we
remain true? If the self becomes an incoherent set of inconsistencies motivated
by in-the-moment self-interest, can we really afford to be true to that self?
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