by David D. Horowitz.
Decades ago a favorite professor of mine liked to disdain sincerity. “Hitler,” he would tell me, “was the most sincere man who ever lived. Sincerity is the most overrated of values.” I disagreed then, and I still do.
Sincerity need not imply authoritarian absolutism. On the contrary, it often motivates people to cultivate tolerance and balance. Nor need sincerity suggest greeting-card sentimentality. Rather, being akin to honesty, it can inspire people to admit doubt and welcome wonderment in an often confusing, complex world. And even if sincerity leads a would-be bard to compose treacly verse or predicable songs, what’s so bad about having the courage to admit you love someone? Talk of modernist irony and skeptical mockery all you want: unvarnished sincerity might still move and inspire.
Sincerity is a great energizer. It taps into the deepest layer of our consciousness, beyond facades and socializing strategies. This elemental centering helps motivate me and many of my literary friends to immerse ourselves in fearless reading, writing, revising, and conversing. Indeed, I often wake at around 3:00 a.m. to groggily scribble on a bedside notepad a resonant rhyme or phrase, half-cursing my addiction to poetry yet grateful a few words might yield a new poem.
To immerse oneself in the study of a craft one loves can deepen insight and refine skill. Lose such commitment, and we’d lose the expertise of people willing to work decades to master ice skating, French dessert cuisine, interior design, sitar playing, origami, Spanish composition, or one of millions of other interests. The “sincerity” of a Hitler is not more genuine because of its fanaticism. Sincerity can just as easily be about tolerant exchange. Granted, sincerity can inspire egotists to petty vengeance or fiery destruction. However, it can also inspire people to build cultural bridges, finely crafted art, and genuine love. Yes, love. How many people could sincerely claim total indifference to loving and being loved? Indeed, the fundamental problem of the world’s Hitlers is not their sincerity; it’s their need for constant adulation to drown out awareness of self-doubt and vulnerability.