The Shadow Sells And Supports The Substance
I saw this picture of Sojourner Truth a while back with a caption below that reads—“I sell the shadow to support the substance.”
Sometimes hard facts are best and are what you need.
But so often, when you are trying to convince someone of something, or trying to understand something yourself, it is the essence of the facts, or the essence of the larger point, that you are looking for.
I’ve found that people easily able to grasp the essence of the matter at hand, or the “shadow” as Sojourner Truth says here, are often the more flexible and humane people I meet.
Rigidity and needing every fact can be toxic to understanding the world around you and in getting along with others.
Being open and flexible, and being able to grasp the issue at hand from the facts that are available is a gift.
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Welcome To Texas Liberal
Texas Liberal is a blog of politics and political history.
My name is Neil Aquino. Here is my profile.
I can be reached at naa618@att.net.
Additional focuses of the blog are books, art, poetry, personal relationships and, also, sea life and marine mammals.
( The picture above is of the Houston Ship Channel. A narrow channel can lead to a wide sea.)
The signature post of this blog is the Martin Luther King Reading & Reference List. This list is the best of it’s kind on the web.
Another good post is my reciting the words to the Shaker hymn Simple Gifts on Galveston Island, Texas as a ship passes behind.
I live in Houston, Texas and I do sometimes write about political issues in Houston and in Texas.
I also often write about my former hometown of Cincinnati, and about the great beach city of Galveston, Texas.
I define liberalism as a role for government in the economy to help make life more fair, and a broad acceptance of people regardless of who they are.
This is why it says “All People Matter” at the top of the blog.
A blog grows one reader at a time. If you like what you read here, please consider forwarding the link.
Texas Liberal began regular posting on July 25, 2006.
I also blog at the Houston Chronicle as one of eight featured political bloggers, and on Where’s The Outrage? which posts out of North Carolina.
Thanks for reading Texas Liberal.
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Texas Liberal 
Great post, thank you. I read about Sojourner Truth in a book about quilts sewed by slave women. Many of them “bought” their liberty in sewing quilts.
Isabelle— Thank you for comment and for the additional fact.