Marco Polo

We know him from the pool game we all played as kids in the summer, and from the ambiguous fact that he traveled to distant places. But what else do we know about the iconic Marco Polo? He was born to a wealthy merchant family in Venice, Italy, and when he was 17, traveled with his father and brothers to the far East. They went to China, where emperor Kublai Khan eventually appointed Polo to help with business. There, Polo traveled around on various missions. Among his travels were present day China, Turkey, India, Sri Lanka, and Mongolia, all of which he wrote about, and then some. While Marco Polo’s book may be able to give us a look into what he witnessed in the many foreign places he went to. However, when he died of old age, he parted with the words, “I have not told half of what I saw.”

I think this is a great quote in that it emphasizes the difference between what goes into books and what we experience in life. As people come back from vacations, they usually give a brief account of what they did, who they met, and any interesting stories along the way. But what people don’t tell is how that place, those people, or that experience affected them, their views, opinions, or actions. People experience so many different things on so many different levels in reality and it’s near impossible to really tell what happened. A lot of the experience is lost in the translation to spoken word or to a book, and can only truly be seen for what it is if someone does it themselves. This is why it’s important to get out and experience things for ourselves, because no matter how many stories we read about other people’s experiences are, it’s not going to paint the complete picture.

3 thoughts on “Marco Polo

  1. Taylor Manalo

    These last words are frustrating but very powerful. I can imagine that those around him were thinking, “What do you mean?! Wait, you can’t just leave without telling us about the rest!” But then again, maybe he was on to something. You know how when people look for something, they find a million other things along the way? Maybe he was trying to inspire exploration, to encourage those around him to keep looking and to never, ever stop. Also, I love what you said about his experiences being only half of the story – the ways that they influenced his life being the other half. I could sit and share about every memory that I have ever lived through, but no one else could truly feel or live or experience those memories with me because each moment has affected me in ways that I just can’t explain or share in words. Ways that I wish I could elaborate upon and share, but then again I don’t. Because I suppose that these secret memories are what make me me. Anyway, I apologize for the rambling. Thanks for a very thought-provoking post!

  2. Emma Roudabush

    It seems like he left the world a cliffhanger! What did he really see? However, Marco could also be enticing people to travel and explore, as he did. Interesting quote. I always wonder how people manage to think of their last words… is it an on the spot thing? Or does one think about it for awhile?

  3. Erin Glocke

    It’s kind of funny that those should be his last words when he is in fact a historical figure that we know very little about, like you said. Maybe this is because he was so busy doing that he didn’t have as much of an opportunity to record his experiences and accomplishments for future text books? Either way, I agree that this is a pretty important quote, especially since we live in an age where people are awfully big on the telling instead of the doing. With things like Instagram and Twitter, the simple act of eating a sandwich is disrupted by this odd need to share it with the rest of the world. Personally, I would much rather live a life of doing than telling, as it’s exponentially more satisfying. Plus, I know that I’ll never be able to convey my experiences properly to others, so it’s almost not worth it. It’s like trying to take a picture of the moon with your cell phone – it never does it justice.

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