More Words Of Wisdom From Spock

Yahoo News has an uncharacteristically good piece on a 1968 letter Leonard Nimoy (p.b.u.h) wrote in response to a biracial fan who asked him how he thought Spock, being half-human and half-Vulcan, handled bullies and being an outcast. A real class act, he not only responded to her letter, but answered her question in depth. Likely drawing from his own background as "the other", Nimoy was able to both flesh out his most famous character and provide further inspiration for those of us who march to a different drum. I highly recommend you read the whole article, but I will leave you with this choice quote:

"Spock decided he would live up to his own personal value and uniqueness. He'd do whatever made him feel best about himself. He decided to listen to that little voice inside him and not the people around him. 

He replaced the idea of wanting to be liked with the idea of becoming accomplished. Instead of being interested in being popular, be became interested in being intelligent. And instead of wanting to be powerful, he became interested in being useful. 

He said to himself: 'Not everyone will like me. But there will be those who will accept me just for what I am. I will develop myself to such a point of excellence, intelligence, and brilliance that I can see through any problem and deal with any crisis. I will become such a master of my own abilities and career that there will be a place for me. People of all races will need me and not be able to do without me.' And that's just what he did. And when I see him standing there on the bridge of the Enterprise, facing danger and life-and-death problems so cooly and with so much intelligence, I'm sure he made the right decision."