Oswald Chambers states in his book The Moral Foundations of Life in the chapter Natural Growth in Supernatural Grace, “If you live much by yourself you become an oddity, you never see the quirks in yourself.”
Most people want to be unique, but don’t want to be perceived as odd. By definition, there are no degrees of uniqueness. Either someone is the only one of his kind or he is not. On one level, everyone is unique, but superficially most people are not.
Since most people have a social life, their quirks in behavior are not peculiar. They can’t be if they’re going to have a social life. Being sociable requires staying within the boundaries of what’s considered usual behavior and not scaring people by behaving and/or thinking in ways unexpected. Insecure people find comfort in predictability, so when a person comes along who is enigmatic (as in the sense not clear to understand), he acquires the label of being odd. Once that happens, anyone who associates himself with the odd individual risks becoming an outcast from his own kind.
There exists a poignant difference or incongruity between what is expected and what actually is in regard to being superficially unique. It’s hypocritical to diagnose superficially unique persons as a minority to be biased against. That’s being prejudiced and proud. These are the days the majority insist on tolerance of all individuals, but yet those making the most noise in that populace are unable to see their own quirks because of being enmeshed into their own agendas.
