And, with all due respect, unless you are Jesus or Moses or Buddha, you can't provide the truth to me. So, save your breath (virtual breath ;) ).
That's an interesting twist on an argument, but not very meaningful in this context. You missed a great chance, unfortunately. I laid the seeds. I had hoped that someone would catch the obvious response, but it's not gonna happen, so I'll offer it:
The phrase to which you've responded was a direct quotation with attribution. The subtle and clever response (something not common on this or most SI threads) would have been to note that the character who made that statement was, in fact, the one who could not handle the truth. It was Nicholson's character who asked the dramatic question. But his character existed in a mythic realm and was unable to grasp the situation. Cruise's character, could, in fact, "handle the truth" as had been amply shown in the rest of the story.
The phrase remains a telling indictment of the fantasy that many on this thread mistake for "the truth", but the context gives it that wonderful subtlety that helps us all to recognize that few, if any of us, can "handle the truth". |
