From a review of a book on founding Britain’s Special Air Service in World War II, what was required of recruits —
Courage
Fitness
Determination
Discipline
Skill
Intelligence
Training
and another review noted, quoting the book —
“Recruits tended to be unusual to the point of eccentricity … people who did not fit easily into the ranks of the regular army, rogues and reprobates with … little time for convention.”
There are a couple ways to read these ideas.
Isn’t that special? in the mock-admiring tones of Dana Carvey’s Church Lady
Dropping the mocking we can aver officiously, Well … it’s not all that special
Either can make us feel better.
The holier-than-thou of the faith-based, or
Its above-it-all analog of ones who sleep in
Neither can make us different.
It is easy enough — I did it in about three minutes — to run the gamut of dismissive tendencies, the tendentious tripe-ing and carping of the non-professional (or professional, if you like) critics.
It’s easy enough to find the hypocrisy in the hortatory, the holes in the high-emperor’s Hanes.
Much harder to give it a go — to run the gauntlet instead of the gamut.
If more did that it wouldn’t be so special.