In the movie Moonstruck, the character Rose Castorini played by Olympia Dukakis explains her husband’s affair with the much younger Mona as an older man’s fear of death. This week Jenson Huang’s fears and behavior caught up with him when it became clear that he had been involved in a series of infidelities, one of which was tied to a Chinese agent.
What is it about people who hold extraordinary power that makes them think they are invincible, untouchable regarding their personal behavior? Well, I guess, such men, and usually but not always men, get trapped by thinking with other parts of their bodies than their brains – or not thinking at all.
Huang’s wife, Lori Huang, has mostly been out of the public eye, but was a major force in creating Jenson’s image, including the black leather jacket. An engineer by training, she was a force in creating NVIDIA as well which, thanks to Huang, took a bad fall in the stock market. Illusions of invincibility do catch up with you. Perhaps some others should take their lessons from Huang.
Prayer for the Day
How often have you warned us, O God, of the dangers of hubris,
But thinking we are beyond your reproach, ignore you?
How often have we act as if we are but gods,
Thinking that our actions are beyond consequence?
Chastise us and protect us, O Lord, from our frailties,
Which so often cause us to fall into the sin of pride.
In the name of the One who is our salvation,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
And on the pedestal these words appear:
'My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!'
Nothing beside remains.
Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away
Percy Blythe Shelley, “Ozymandias” (1792-1822)
Pride goes before destruction,
And a haughty spirit before a fall
Proverbs16: 18