Words which resonate strongly

David Nelson

Permanent Fixture
MBTI
INFJ
Enneagram
1w9 possib
I came across the idea that people could post words which they feel have deep meaning and great resonance to them. Specifically those that chime with their core beliefs or experiences. Maybe also add an explanation of why the words have such power. They could be song lyrics or anything from a book or film. The meaning to you could be different from the meaning intended by the writer.

My inspiration for this idea was the following from the Mike + The Mechanics song Silent Running….

“Don’t believe the church and state
And everything they tell you

Believe in me
I’m with the high command”

Explanation: I have a strong desire to communicate what I read which affects people’s lives.
One of the problems with this is common skepticism. But it runs deeper….it’s the fact that the only person I believe you can fully trust is someone who truly loves you. But they can still be wrong of course, as can the church and state. But a single person has greater potential to speak the truth as in Jesus’ example and that of many others throughout history. The main message here is that we need heroes, and we need to believe in them, because they are the only ones who can set us free. The high command means to me the power of truth, which is most likely to come from a well meaning individual. INFJs are very well placed, and often have a calling, to take on this mantle.
 
Last edited:
Makes me think of this….

The old learn through experience
What the young know through instinct.

I heard it said by Peter Ustinov. Not sure if he was the origin.
I've heard that quote, but can't remember where. It isn't coming up on Google on a quick search. It reminds me a little of my signature verses from TS Eliot's poem East Coker which if you don't know of it is a long poem that ends like this - and I think its intent was engraved into me before I was born.

Home is where one starts from. As we grow older
The world becomes stranger, the pattern more complicated
Of dead and living. Not the intense moment
Isolated, with no before and after,
But a lifetime burning in every moment
And not the lifetime of one man only
But of old stones that cannot be deciphered.
There is a time for the evening under starlight,
A time for the evening under lamplight
(The evening with the photograph album).
Love is most nearly itself
When here and now cease to matter.
Old men ought to be explorers
Here or there does not matter
We must be still and still moving
Into another intensity
For a further union, a deeper communion
Through the dark cold and the empty desolation,
The wave cry, the wind cry, the vast waters
Of the petrel and the porpoise. In my end is my beginning.
 
All men dream: but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dream with open eyes, to make it possible.

TE Lawrence
 
Beware of the artist who’s an intellectual also. The artist who doesn’t fit.

F Scott Fitzgerald

was he talking about INFJs??

Almost certainly yes, but not only INFJs. Being an artist or being an intellectual, either one, can help to insure one does not fit, and being both almost guarantees it. My sense is this can, and does, occur among a number of types, though more likely in some than others.

Cheers,
Ian
 
All men dream: but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dream with open eyes, to make it possible.

TE Lawrence

But I wonder, is the dreamer of the day still dangerous, even if they never try to make their dream possible? TE Lawrence would suggest the dreaming itself is what makes a person dangerous, regardless of any action taken.

In any case, let’s not forget that dreams are what fuel our progress forward, for better or worse, and when it comes to the actual implementation and doing thereof, it’s best left to Sensors. :P

Cheers,
Ian
 
I have a strong desire to communicate what I read which affects people’s lives. One of the problems with this is common skepticism. But it runs deeper….it’s the fact that the only person I believe you can fully trust is someone who truly loves you. But they can still be wrong of course, as can the church and state. But a single person has greater potential to speak the truth as in Jesus’ example and that of many others throughout history. The main message here is that we need hero’s, and we need to believe in them, because they are the only ones who can set us free. The high command means to me the power of truth, which is most likely to come from a well meaning individual. INFJs are very well placed, and often have a calling, to take on this mantle.

I feel that desire a bit less these days for a few reasons—skepticism, others’ as well as my own—in addition to my awareness that what I think of value and why I think so will tend to be relevant to but a few.

I think a single person has the potential to speak a truth, one amongst many. I don’t believe any person has the ability to perceive, much less understand, a truth that is singular, and universal—only shadings thereof, always tangential to some degree.

Ultimately, I would like each and every to recognize and witness in their self the hero that lies within, realize that potential, and set themselves free. Not just because that’s noble, but because it’s pragmatic—no one else is coming to save you. Your liberation is your responsibility—one has but to decide that for oneself, and then do the work.

Of course, that’s the idealist in me talking. History would suggest that collectively we look to, indeed need, leaders. So much so that we welcome not only heroes, but zeroes.

Are INFJs very well placed to take on this mantle? Yes, I think so, but perhaps not in a way commonly thought of as heroism. There won’t be a blockbuster movie made. They will present in accord with their temperament, gifts, talents, and skills, utilizing the resources available to them, as constrained by their situation. And of course, they do this all while navigating what it is to be human, figuring it out as they go along like everyone else.

And how big is their audience? I don’t think that matters, actually. That they have the potential to inspire anyone at all is testament to their power inasmuch as so many seemingly have no want to do so for themselves. Should this be limited to a relative few, I think we would be better to recognize and celebrate that it happened at all, as opposed to despairing the paucity of reach. They still have changed the world, most certainly so for each who is a recipient of the blessings and gifts shared with intention by that INFJ. If only we could all be so fortunate!

Cheers,
Ian
 
But I wonder, is the dreamer of the day still dangerous, even if they never try to make their dream possible? TE Lawrence would suggest the dreaming itself is what makes a person dangerous, regardless of any action taken.

In any case, let’s not forget that dreams are what fuel our progress forward, for better or worse, and when it comes to the actual implementation and doing thereof, it’s best left to Sensors. :p

Cheers,
Ian
Yes it is quite a negative quote. Perhaps it was in the light of the day it was written, perhaps a reference to political ideologies like Hitler etc.

I think he means they are dangerous even if they don’t try and make their dreams possible, because they always have the potential to do so.
 
I feel that desire a bit less these days for a few reasons—skepticism, others’ as well as my own—in addition to my awareness that what I think of value and why I think so will tend to be relevant to but a few.

I think a single person has the potential to speak a truth, one amongst many. I don’t believe any person has the ability to perceive, much less understand, a truth that is singular, and universal—only shadings thereof, always tangential to some degree.

Ultimately, I would like each and every to recognize and witness in their self the hero that lies within, realize that potential, and set themselves free. Not just because that’s noble, but because it’s pragmatic—no one else is coming to save you. Your liberation is your responsibility—one has but to decide that for oneself, and then do the work.

Of course, that’s the idealist in me talking. History would suggest that collectively we look to, indeed need, leaders. So much so that we welcome not only heroes, but zeroes.

Are INFJs very well placed to take on this mantle? Yes, I think so, but perhaps not in a way commonly thought of as heroism. There won’t be a blockbuster movie made. They will present in accord with their temperament, gifts, talents, and skills, utilizing the resources available to them, as constrained by their situation. And of course, they do this all while navigating what it is to be human, figuring it out as they go along like everyone else.

And how big is their audience? I don’t think that matters, actually. That they have the potential to inspire anyone at all is testament to their power inasmuch as so many seemingly have no want to do so for themselves. Should this be limited to a relative few, I think we would be better to recognize and celebrate that it happened at all, as opposed to despairing the paucity of reach. They still have changed the world, most certainly so for each who is a recipient of the blessings and gifts shared with intention by that INFJ. If only we could all be so fortunate!

Cheers,
Ian
It sounds like you are highlighting a key difference between INFJs and INFPs. Or Fi and Ne versus Fe and Ni. Or personal desires versus universal truths/visions.

The universal vision must be general in nature for it to resonate wildly. An understanding of typology shows the problems with this, because being general it will miss much of the needs and desires in many types. In the political realm, however, I think the potential for ‘uniting generalisms’ still has much potential. Economic systems have to be general in nature, and greater fairness simply allows people the freedom to spend their money and time as they wish, in highly individual ways. In any case, I don’t think the government should have any business in deciding how people find their own life fulfillment. Libertarians of course want this to cover the economic sphere for obvious selfish reasons, but that simply traps many to allow the rich more freedom.

So I see much potential for general idealism that doesn’t restrict individuality, which can and should be celebrated. A hero lets this happen imo, rather than imposing their will and vision on others (like Putin). There are universal truths which any rational person can appreciate (or at best, not be at odds with, or suffer from).
 
Beware of the artist who’s an intellectual also. The artist who doesn’t fit.

F Scott Fitzgerald

was he talking about INFJs??
And why is he warning against such cool people? An artists that can blend in with the intellectual folk and adopt only good things from them. Sounds like my kinda guy. lol
 
And why is he warning against such cool people? An artists that can blend in with the intellectual folk and adopt only good things from them. Sounds like my kinda guy. lol
Good point. If Hitler had been accepted into art school, WW2 might not have happened. It seems back in time there was less room for unconventional views sadly.
 
“Beauty is truth, truth beauty,—that’s all Ye know on earth, and all Ye need to know.”
-John Keats

Here is why:

Nothing is more beautiful than learning the full truth about something that has directly affected you.
The truth can never be ugly and this quote by my main man, Keats has always cemented that in me.
 
Last edited:
Back
Top