It's useless to try and make rhyme or reason of it, because one

The words of David Zucker — “It’s useless to try and make rhyme or reason of it, because one guy thinks one thing and the other guy sees a whole other thing. So I try not to take them too seriously. Lately I have them screened so I only read the positive ones.” — speak to the eternal challenge of judgment and criticism. They remind us that in all things that reach the public eye, there will be as many opinions as there are men, and to try to reconcile them is to chase the wind.

To search for rhyme or reason in the voices of the crowd is to invite torment. For perception is a mirror clouded by bias, desire, envy, and taste. One will call a work genius, another will dismiss it as folly. Zucker, a maker of comedy, knew well that laughter itself is a thing no two hearts experience alike. Thus, he chose the path of wisdom: to cease wrestling with every voice, and instead to dwell only upon the positive, the words that uplift rather than burden.

The ancients too faced this storm of opinion. Consider the playwright Euripides, mocked in Athens for his innovations, often judged harshly by his peers. Yet centuries later, his tragedies were revered for their depth and humanity. Or the philosopher Socrates, condemned by the vote of the many, who found his questioning dangerous. If he had lived by their judgments, his truth would have been silenced. Zucker’s decision echoes their struggle — to endure criticism without letting it corrode the soul.

The act of reading only the positive is not denial, but protection. Just as a warrior wears armor to guard against unnecessary wounds, so too must the artist shield himself from the endless blows of unfounded scorn. For to dwell too long on the words of the bitter is to lose sight of the work itself. The wise man listens enough to grow, but not so much that he is destroyed by the noise of the crowd.

Let the generations remember: no deed of worth will escape the voices of both praise and condemnation. The path of wisdom is not to silence the critics, nor to be ruled by them, but to discern what strengthens the spirit and discard the rest. David Zucker’s words stand as counsel to all creators and dreamers: do not drown in the multitude of opinions, but let the positive voices give you strength, and walk on with courage, knowing that even the noblest works are never free from scorn.