Does this passage convey an appropriate mix of seriousness and levity?
The following is a standalone passage from a collection meant to deal with topics of psychology, philosophy and self-help.
The question is: Is the quirky style helpful in driving home the point, or does it take away from the seriousness of the topic? Or does it come across as satire? Or, more simply put, would you read a self-help style book peppered with passages written in a similar style?
The Oracle of All Wisdom put down the phone. He felt deeply disturbed. No doubt the caller derived much relief from the advice he had dispensed, as they always did. He wondered what they would think if they knew how inept he was at following his own advice. He in turn derived relief from the reassurances and advice he received from the Oracle of Oracles of All Wisdom, who in turn, turned to the Oracle of Oracles of Oracles of All Wisdom, and so on and so forth. In the end, nobody was good at following his own advice. However, when his own advice was given to him by another, when the same assurances he screamed to himself over and over were plainly spoken to him by another soul, everything changed. There was no Ultimate Oracle.
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