That's what I think

Here’s a way to start your Monday: I showed up on Google’s Quotes of the Day page.

They have me down as saying “An opinion should be the result of thought, not a substitute for it.” Which, in fact, I did say, or at least have one of my Frazz characters saying. And I have to admit, if I want a lot of people to remember me for something I said, I’ll go with that line any day.

I’m listed first, which doesn’t mean anything. Right below my quote is Robert Frost’s path-less-traveled line, proving that point about as emphatically as it can possibly be proven. It also makes me feel a little queasy, since I write about Frost a few times in Trizophrenia (have I written the only book about triathlon to mention Robert Frost repeatedly? I might) and even, at some point, portray him as a cranky old fart, which sounds a lot like an opinion and a not well thought-out one at that.

But I don’t think that really is an opinion. Nor, necessarily, a fact. An interpretation, yes, based on a lot of historical accounts and the statements of others who knew him and on his epitaph, which he wrote for himself and reads, "I had a lover's quarrel with the world."

A fact would go something like this:

     Frost understood the English language and the human condition better than I could ever hope to.

An opinion would go something like this:

     Frost understood the English language and the human condition better than anyone could ever hope to.

And I’ve given that some thought.