Tall poppy syndrome
Posted by R. Berg on August 09, 2001
In Reply to: Tall poppy syndrome posted by Bruce Kahl on August 09, 2001
: Tall poppy syndrome
: If you tend to your garden and are successful in growing some
flowers you will take the tallest, strongest specimen, cut it down
and bring it indoors to be displayed.
: It is also a tendency in some cultures to attack and "cut down"
visibly successful people.
"Tall poppies" comes from an anecdote about an ancient monarch
who sent a message by doing something rather than saying something.
One version is in Rabelais, "Gargantua and Pantagruel".
: As long as diversity of values exists, there will always be people
criticizing those icons that are held up as the "model" that we
should inspire to be like.
- Poppies: correction--ignore previous version R. Berg 08/09/01