Stand or Kneel?

The following quotation appears at the beginning of Lesson II: Choice and Initiative:

“Unlike the cruel Leonidas who demanded that you

stand: I require only—that you kneel.”

-Xerxes, from the motion picture “300”

I am often asked about this quote, the likely question falling somewhere along “how is this relevant?” or “what does this have to do with the lesson?” I do admit this quote and it's relation to the lesson is rather “artsy” and that it's pertinence may be, to many people, not obvious. Hence, I will discuss it here.

If you saw the movie “300” you no doubt remember the deformed hunchback, Ephialtes, who betrays the Greeks by revealing “a secret passage” to the Persians, thus enabling them to surround the greatly outnumbered Greek army. Before the battle begins, Ephialtes approaches the Greek king, Leonidas, to offer his services in combat. While Leonidas is moved by Ephialtes effort, he quickly realizes the hunchback is not capable of fighting within the Greek phalanx formation and would thereby jeopardize his army. Outraged by this rejection, Ephialtes approaches the Persian king, Xerxes, who then provides us with the quotation outlined above. Ultimately, Ephialtes chooses to kneel.

I felt this quote was perfect for the lesson because it illustrated some definitive questions associated with human choice and action. First and foremost: “do I stand on my own two feet and consciously control my actions or do I kneel to my surroundings and allow other people or external circumstances to control me?” As described in the book, many people are reactive to their environment, and thereby place a moratorium on their free will. It seems someone or something is always demanding that we kneel in this way.

Another aspect of this quote which should be mentioned is personal accountability. We are often all-to-ready to take credit for our successes, but quickly provide excuses for our failures or mistakes, somehow attempting to transfer the blame from ourselves onto some other party. In this case, the quote provides us with another definitive question: “do I stand by my choices and take responsibility for and learn from my actions (a revolutionary concept) or do I kneel to my desire to avoid responsibility altogether?” Which do you suppose is in your ultimate self-interest?

Lastly, there are those individuals who see the best within us and demand that we stand because they know we are capable of doing so. Would you better appreciate the person who demands your very best, because you are worthy of such standards or the person who demands you don't bother, because you're just too pathetic?