"Violence is not something to joke about. Toughness is fake.
The real tough people in this world don't go around bragging
about it. If you've been there, telling you about it is unnecessary,
because you know. And if you haven't been there, you're not
capable of understanding. . . "
The above quote was made by a good friend of mine over 38
years ago. This thread got me to thinking, reminiscing actually,
and reminded me of the above quote and the real ‘tough guys’
in this world, at least the ones I have come in contact with. And
believe you me, this is not toughness by proxy on my part as
I'm probably the biggest, or in my case, the smallest wimp, you
will run ever across.
The real tough guys in my opinion, do not look, act, or give the
impression of being tough. They are incognito, are under the
radar, and you would never know, never suspect, have zero
inclination of their toughness, of their life experience, of what
they are capable of doing or what they have done, if you were
introduced to them without any prior knowledge of their actions.
At least the ones I have met. That is not to say I have met a lot
of them, I haven't. But the ones in my ‘sphere’ . . . mercenaries,
martial artists (when it meant something . . . like 50 years ago),
and ‘clean up’ men, the real men you call when no nobody else
can ‘calm the storm’) So the few I have known were very humble,
not cocky, not tough acting at all, never talk about it even when
asked. (See paragraph one.)
(Nothing against the things I'm going to mention here . . .) they
don't drive big, fancy or loud cars, have big muscles, no ink,
jewelry or distinguishing characteristics, no swagger, wear very
conservative clothing, live a modest lifestyle, nothing that would
call attention to themselves, and very easily get lost in a crowd
. . . .they blend in. They may be sitting back in the corner, alone,
quite, minding their own business, but when called into action,
you better be prepared, your life will be altered, irrevocable.
That is what makes then so dangerous . . . you just don't know.
Toughness is fake.