Comment by mongol
1 year ago
I once saw a documentary about Nelson Mandela. When he read a newspaper he was very careful to line up the pages and to crease the paper so it was straight and had even corners between the different pages. He did not half-ass the act of turning pages in a newspaper. It seemed like such a waste of time. How much less must he have had time to read, wasting time to turn pages like that?
On the other hand he had an incredible reputation and was admired as a leader across the world. Perhaps his attention to detail mattered even when it seemed like a waste.
Sounds like just typical OCD. Some people have to line up their notepaper and pen perfectly parallel on the desk before they're mentally able to continue past that point.
He spent twenty years in a prison. I imagine it was a habit left over from then. A slightly detrimental one, but obviously not one that set him back too much.