“You take the lies out of him, and he’ll shrink to the size of your hat; you take the malice out of him, and he’ll disappear.” – Mark Twain

I’d had almost the exact same conversation before.  The warning; the carefully worded manipulation of ulterior motives, of deceipt.

A simple question, gone unanswered, and yet, providing such illumination of the matter that leaves me with a familiar feeling.  I know this feeling well – and it is my enemy.