day no. 16,067: to be like is to be different

"A shadow is a shape; a thing which reproduces shape but not texture. These things were something like the real thing; and to say that they were like is to say that they were different. Saying something is like a dog is another way of saying it is not a dog." -- G.K. Chesterton, The Everlasting Man

To stress similarity is to highlight difference. If they were the same, they would not be like, they would be the same. Therefore, to propose that likeness is the same as sameness is to propose that differences be treated like similarities. Yet, we've already established that "to be like" is "to be different." In other words, to appeal to similarity to make a a case for sameness is to call upon the strength of differentiation to make a case for assimilation. To make that case is to defeat it. It saws off the limb on which it wants to sit. To assert the principle is to disprove the premise.