Dull and Bright

I am about a quarter of the way through an interesting book "48 Laws of Power" by Robert Greene.

I have just finished a fascinating Chapter called Infection: Avoid the unhappy and unlucky.

Here is a snippet

‘You can die from someone else's misery - emotional states are as infectious as diseases. You may feel you are helping the drowning man but you are only precipitating your own disaster. The unfortunate sometimes draw misfortune on themselves; they will also draw it on you. Associate with the happy and fortunate instead.’

This might look mean and uncaring at first glance but when read in context of the whole chapter you will understand the relevance of the author’s argument.

People who are genuinely sad - even depressed need our help and support - we would all sign up to that.

It is argued in this chapter that some people are unhappy as a state of mind and those people can drag you down if you let them. Conversely if we spend time in the company of people who are generally optimistic we feel better.

I can sign up that philosophy from personal experience - what do you think?

I once heard it described as follows;

'Spend time with dullards and thou shalt become dull'

I repeat however I am not talking here about people who are not well - I am talking about that type of person we all know who is just always always looking on the miserable side of life