Daily Cascade

Judgment and Opportunity

Prompt:
"Opportunity is fleeting and judgment is difficult."
Let this quote from Deborah Harkness inspire your entry.

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I believe the original of this quote belongs to Hippocrates as, “Life is short, art long, opportunity fleeting, experiment uncertain, and judgment difficult.” Checking up on who Deborah Harkness is, I found that she was born in 1965 and is a scholar and has written novels, at least one about black magic. I am guessing this quote is from such a novel.

At first sight, the quote points to the tension between the need and urgency to act and the difficulty of making a decision before an opportunity is lost.

As such, opportunities are temporary and can vanish in the blink of an eye. Most need a decision on the spot and quick action. Then, making the right decision on the spur of the moment is also challenging. It's tough to know if you're making the right choice in that moment because judgment isn't always clear.

For this and other side reasons, I'm always flustered when I have to make a quick decision since my judgment may not be clear. Except for the life and death matters where I have to trust myself and dive in. And diving in was exactly what I did when a friend's baby fell in our pool and her mother just froze. This was more than ten years ago. Yet, when it comes to choosing between two plumbing companies, you can be sure I'll do some homework. In such situations, I just can't trust instinct.