When we meet somebody, or read about something they’ve accomplished, we are getting only a thin slice of a much larger picture. That person began somewhere, and then went through a unique set of struggles and obstacles.
Or perhaps they benefitted from some unique advantages. In any case, we are seeing only the fully formed result. What led to that result may be far more complex and interesting.
A presidential candidate may have gotten where they are by working through the stigma of being labeled a member of a minority, only to end up becoming a tough, seasoned prosecutor. Or perhaps a presidential candidate was born with a silver spoon in their mouth, and got where they are largely by realizing the power of using and disposing of people like tissue paper.
For every Marcel Proust, who turned their life into an open book, there is someone who is more like a Jay Gatsby, not at all what they seem. Yet you cannot really separate the person from their origin story.
Alas, those stories are not always easily knowable. I wonder how much it is possible to infer an origin story by sizing up the person that we see before us.