“I Don’t Know Half Of You Half As Well As I Should Like; And I Like Less Than Half Of You Half As Well As You Deserve.”

If a man came up to a podium and said,

I don’t know half of you half as well as I should like; and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve.

… Would the half-truth not be that he is the most truthful man on a podium to date?

If he said, “Life is harsh, good things happen to bad people and bad to good, evil is going un-judged right this very second, and none of us is honest all the time – let alone half,” wouldn’t half of the whole truth be that he might not only be the most truthful man on a podium but probably in the nation? (Half certainly the most truthful in the room.)

And taking into account how we’ve treated others of similar traits throughout half of history, would we not despise him with more than half of us?

Falsely yours,
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien