Who wants to be a Puppeteer? (2022) 图画 由 Edwin Loftus

This picture displays two puppets, male and female, dressed as average people one might meet in many places. Strings connect them to a puppeteer, unseen above them.

Cincinnatus was a Roman general who was called out of retirement in a time of need. Successful in battle, he was offered riches and great power, but refused them to return to his retirement.
This was the model George Washington followed when he refused to let men propose him as a king and after serving two terms as America's first President, he shocked most observers by voluntarily giving up the Presidency to return to his estate.
Washington believed there was no honor in having power over others.
He believed that moral leadership must be a burden of service to others, assumed only at need and quickly set aside. He believed that Honor comes not in leadership, but in helping to make it possible for others to be their own leaders, to govern their own lives and pursue their own vision for their lives.
His complaint was that fate had made him its puppet, he abhorred that for himself and felt degraded when others sought to tempt him with continued power.
Who among the leaders alive today has this sort of virtue? There are some. But they are not common.
A saying in the Cincinnatus Society of which he was a member was, "The only ones fit for leadership are those that don't want it, that take it on reluctantly, and have done with it as soon as their duty is fulfilled."
Most of us aren't called this way. For us it is much smaller power we use and too often abuse. Each of us should look at our lives and ask ourselves how often we manipulate others rather than leading or resolving things as equals, followed only when others freely elect to follow us. Respecting others as equally the captains of their own views and destinies. Depending on the persuasion of our ideas, not the power of some advantage we exploit when we cannot persuade.
It is better to be ordinary in a land of free people, than King in a land of puppets.

During creation of this image a small, 1 inch tear occurred in the upper right-hand corner, parallel with the top edge and 3/16th inches below it. This was repaired with acid neutral artist's tape and should be as lasting as the paper it repairs. This is why the picture is rated only "very good", not "perfect". When matted, it will show. So, observe this if you think of purchasing this image.

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