The philosopher did not understand how this could have happened. In only a matter of seconds while walking, his reputation and good name had been scarred. The philosopher then retreated to his home and, for the next eight days, wrote a book to help explain to his friends and disciples why this minor mistake was causing him to be judged to the highest degree by society. He wrote that society has a tendency to judge people in high places much more harshly, but those of lower standing escape these moments of criticism.

This parable was told to El Conde Lucanor by his counselor to help him understand the importance of having a good name and preserving a respectable reputation. The counselor went on to state his moral to his student, “ … ever remember that the only infallible judge of your actions is God and your own conscience.” In other words, only you can determine your reputation.

Throughout our lives, each of us has passed judgment on somebody. It can either be a good judgment or a bad judgment. Either way, we have observed somebody or something, and by human nature, formulated our own discernment and opinions about them. But what happens when judgments are passed about ourselves based off of something as insignificant as the way we dress, the way we look or the way we speak? Do we begin to question who we are as an individual, or do we continue to live our lives in our own way and not let other people’s opinions shake us?

Well, it actually depends on the individual. There are those that will take into consideration what others think about us and let that determine our decisions we make in life and ultimately how we live our lives. However, there are others who will disregard the thoughts and opinions of others and simply will live our lives for ourselves. Does that mean that our reputations are in the hands of others or in our own hands? Or is it a combination of both?

It is true that the decisions we make in life might cause others to judge us. Our good decisions might cause some to smile upon our reputations and our bad decisions might cause them to frown upon them. But, in the end, a good name and good reputation is all in how you live your life. That is why it is called “your reputation.”

It is up to us as individuals to choose how we want to be remembered in this life. Do we want to be remembered by our mistakes or do we want to be remembered by how we let our mistakes improve us?

In living our lives, we also must understand that the decisions we make will have an impact on those around us. Whether the impact is good, bad, large or small is completely up to us and how much thought we put in the decisions we make.

In the case of the blind philosopher, he understood that to whom much is given, much is required and expected. He understood that the smallest shortcoming made by a respectable person can tarnish his or her entire reputation. But he also understood that our mistakes in life do not have to define our reputations. It is in how we deal with those mistakes that we truly develop who we are and how our legacy in this life will be remembered. Because when you have a good name, you have a priceless treasure.

Ashleigh Rogers is a State News guest columnist and a journalism and Spanish senior. Reach her at roger125@msu.edu.