I have a personal belief that those who ran furtherest into life, never bothered to write anything down. Perhaps the greatest Philopsher of our generation was the Ghanan who drove me to my hotel after an unexpected stop in U.A.E. We spoke nothing of real substance. I had forgetten to eat but had purchased dried mangos in Bangkok in anticipation of my forgetfulness. When out of courtesy I offered a portion to him, his appreciation of the offer is something I can never forget.
His thanks was neither loud nor flowery. He in fact said nothing at all. He simply nodded and smiled. I learned later that he was in fact fluent in 7 distict dialects of languages found in villages across Ghana and was also fluent in not only English but Arabic as well. All that to say, he didn't need all of these languages to express himself. In sharing with him, he shared with me his appreciation. He spent the rest of the ride teaching me various words in all the languages he knew.
When he dropped me off, he walked inside to validate the ride and collect his payment from the hotel. On the way in, he invited to me to dinner with a few other Ghanans down the block. I obviously said, "Yes" and went to shake his hand and again he suprised me. Instead of shaking my hand, he placed his over his heart and said, "I look forward to introducing you to my other friends.", smiled, and walked away.
It does suprise me, the fraility of knowledge. Moreover, my confidence in the things I believe to be knowledge. It did not occur to me as possible that this man could consider me a genuine friend over a few mangos and a few words. But, as is perhaps evident, this was my own shortcoming not his. In calculating the possibilites, one can miss the obvious. It is convient to believe that friendships can last only up to a lifetime. Perhaps it is more apt to believe that we see the same friends, with different faces, across the world and across lifetimes.