Dena and I rented the 1950 Jimmy Stewart film Harvey. I figured that it would be 104 minutes of corny old-time comedy. In reality, it was more like 50. Then, almost imperceptibly at first but powerfully by the end, what appeared to be insanity on the part of Stewart's character Elwood P. Dowd is revealed to be a truly grounded choice of lifestyle. By the end we realize that we've been watching a parable.
Here's my favorite line:
"My mother told me 'In this world, Elwood, you must be oh, so smart or oh, so pleasant.' For years I was oh, so smart. I recommend pleasant."
That hits me right where I live. Would you rather live in a society where everyone is smart, or where everyone is pleasant? Would you rather die feeling smart, or feeling pleasant? While brains have limits, what's to stop us from being pleasant in every moment?
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