few lift
some steal
many scorn
To shine is to invite the full spectrum of human nature. Few will genuinely support your rise—most lack generosity. Some will drain your gifts like parasites, taking what serves them while discarding the rest. Others will despise you simply for possessing what they cannot or will not cultivate in themselves. Humans are fickle creatures, and your talents become their mirror, reflecting back either aspirations or inadequacies. The choice of reflection and reaction, sadly, is theirs, not yours.
In friendships and workplaces alike, talent shifts the balance. Kindness gets mistaken for weakness, and skill breeds quiet competition. History echoes the same lesson: visionaries dismissed as fools until their brilliance becomes undeniable—though often too late to save them from the loneliness and disillusionment that talent itself invited.
The challenge isn't to silence our gifts, but to learn discernment in their offering. Not every audience deserves revelation. To live wisely is to walk the line between generosity and self-preservation—shining enough to guide, but not so brightly as to blind.
- Whose gaze sees your gifts without calculating their value?
- When does hiding become an act of self-preservation rather than fear?
- What would it cost to dim yourself so others feel brighter?
Talent stands at the threshold between invitation and exposure—the same doorway that welcomes admirers and allies also invites the wolves and vultures.
Every gift carries the seed of its own persecution.
— Dean Bowman
Dean Bowman