Do NOT Go Beyond the Shoe
July 20, 2020
While quarantining these past several months, I have taken some art history lessons online. Notice I did not say art lessons as my drawing prowess is limited to stick men and basic geometric shapes! So while reading about various artists and periods of art, I came across the Greek artist, Apelles of Kos, who was apparently one of the greatest painters of the ancient world. While none of his works have survived, his reputation has, thanks in part to the Roman author, Pliny the Elder.
Pliny told of Apelles’ pursuit of perfection and how he would display his finished works on his balcony and then hide inside his home as passers-by would look at his paintings and make comment. Apelles would listen for these critiques and then make edits of his paintings based on these remarks.
One day, a local shoemaker walked by Apelles’ balcony and saw the painting and noticed that the shoe on the main subject was missing a loop. Hearing this comment, Apelles corrected the shoe and displayed the painting again the following day. The same cobbler walked by and was pleased to see his comment the previous day caused improvement in the painting, and so he started to look up from the shoe to the subject’s leg and began to make further comment. Apelles, on hearing this new comment, jumped out of hiding and exclaimed to the shoemaker, “Ne sutor ultra crepidam!” (Shoemaker, don’t go beyond the shoe!). That phrase, in my mind, is equivalent to the modern day vernacular, “Stay in your lane!”
In recent history, the words “ultra crepidam” became combined and Englished as, “ultracrepidarian”, which refers to someone who goes beyond the shoe, or expresses their opinion on a subject matter even though it’s beyond their sphere of knowledge!
Sometimes, I find myself “going beyond the shoe” like a true “ultracrepidarian”, even though I know better.
However, quite a few Scripture verses remind us:
Proverbs 18:2 – A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion.
Proverbs 13:16 – Every prudent man acts with knowledge, but a fool flaunts his folly.
Ecclesiastes 10: 3 – Even when the fool walks on the road, he lacks sense, and he says to everyone that he is a fool.
Ecclesiastes 3: 7b – a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
Sometimes, the greatest wisdom we can offer on a topic is silence. Silence would not only keep us from going beyond the shoe, but also prevent us from putting our foot in our mouths!