welcoming truth

Beware:
   All too often,
   We say
   What we hear others say.
 
We think
   What we are told that we think.

 We see
   What we are permitted to see.

 Worse!

 We see what we are told that we see.

 Repetition and pride are the keys to this.
 
To hear and to see
   Even an obvious lie
   Again
   And again and again
   May be to say it,

  Almost by reflex
 
Then to defend it
   Because we have said it
 
And at last to embrace it
 
Because we've defended it.

-Parable of the Talents
Octavia Butler