Someone I Look Up To
Jul. 10th, 2007 12:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
le_bebna_kamniThere aren't many people that I truly look up to in my life. I respect and admire a lot of people out there who are better public speakers, or particularly brave, or exceptionally intelligent, but I've always had my own way of thinking and doing things and there are very few people that I would genuinely say "I wish I had their talent".
But reading my most recent book, I think I have found someone that I can both admire and look up to.
Book #20: An Ordinary Man, by Paul Rusesabagina, with Tom Zoellner
If you've seen the movie Hotel Rwanda, you'll know the story behind An Ordinary Man. Hotel Rwanda is about a man named Paul Rusesabagina who saved over 1200 lives during the Rwandan genocide of 1994, which killed over 800,000 people in just over 3 months. After the movie came out, Paul was asked to write an autobiography that gives his own version of what happened during that terrible time.
While the movie is pretty close to the book (with several real people being condensed into single characters for the sake of plot), Paul's autobiography gives incredible insight into the mind of a great man.
Many people who think about genocide simply dismiss perpetrators as simply "evil". But Paul Rusesabagina dismisses the most simplistic explanations and shows how people who otherwise "wouldn't hurt a fly" can do horrible things without being "insane" or "evil", and without ceasing to be good, caring people in other contexts. He also explains the paradox of genocide leaders who murder thousands of people, but when the war ends the leaders are found to be hiding several of their victims.
One of the secrets to his success was his ability to understand people, to not see them is simply "us or them" and "good or evil". He believed that everyone had intelligence, emotions, and normal human desires, including people who were his enemy. He also understood that saving the people who sought refuge at his hotel often meant sitting down with perpetrators of the genocide and trying to reason or appeal to them, something he couldn't have done if he had returned the hate.
One of my favorite quotes from the book is this:
But reading my most recent book, I think I have found someone that I can both admire and look up to.
Book #20: An Ordinary Man, by Paul Rusesabagina, with Tom Zoellner
If you've seen the movie Hotel Rwanda, you'll know the story behind An Ordinary Man. Hotel Rwanda is about a man named Paul Rusesabagina who saved over 1200 lives during the Rwandan genocide of 1994, which killed over 800,000 people in just over 3 months. After the movie came out, Paul was asked to write an autobiography that gives his own version of what happened during that terrible time.
While the movie is pretty close to the book (with several real people being condensed into single characters for the sake of plot), Paul's autobiography gives incredible insight into the mind of a great man.
Many people who think about genocide simply dismiss perpetrators as simply "evil". But Paul Rusesabagina dismisses the most simplistic explanations and shows how people who otherwise "wouldn't hurt a fly" can do horrible things without being "insane" or "evil", and without ceasing to be good, caring people in other contexts. He also explains the paradox of genocide leaders who murder thousands of people, but when the war ends the leaders are found to be hiding several of their victims.
One of the secrets to his success was his ability to understand people, to not see them is simply "us or them" and "good or evil". He believed that everyone had intelligence, emotions, and normal human desires, including people who were his enemy. He also understood that saving the people who sought refuge at his hotel often meant sitting down with perpetrators of the genocide and trying to reason or appeal to them, something he couldn't have done if he had returned the hate.
One of my favorite quotes from the book is this:
It is so much easier to die anonymously; it is so much harder to kill someone after you have talked as one human being to another.Occasionally he seems a bit too modest during the book, but I think his intention is to show that a person doesn't have to be a good fighter or a leader of a country to make a difference. All in all, an important and inspiring read.
