Diary entry of James Webb Young, advertising executive and, two years after writing this entry, Advertising Man of the Year.
Sunday, October 25, 1942
Every artist knows that sunlight can only be pictured with shadows. And every good biographer shows us, as Boswell did, that only the faults of a great man make him real to us. But in advertising, we are afraid of this principle, hence less convincing than we might be. The most extraordinary response I ever got to an ad was when I offered a second-hand motor car for sale and judiciously described its defects as well as its virtues.
Sunlight can only be pictured with shadows.
I love this idea.
Honesty and vulnerability are powerful forces in storytelling and all communication, yet they are also often avoided for fear that exposing our faults, failures, embarrassments, and shame will make us appear weak.
The contrary is also true. It’s easy to say nice things about yourself, and it’s not hard to brag. Self-congratulation does not require courage or strength, despite how easily so many people seem drawn to false bravado and artificial swagger.
In truth, those who brag, boast and lie about their achievements are always the least confident, most frightened, most thinnest-skinned people in the world.
Only those willing to express the truth about themselves — in all its tragic humanity — can truly shine.
Sunlight can only be pictured with shadows.
James Webb Young believed this. So, too, do I.
