"Hey, Bolin? Can I tell you something my grandfather told me?" Iroh asked his favorite earthbender. Bolin said nothing, instead he continued to sleep—something Iroh should have been doing since it was almost early enough in the morning to qualify as late at night.
"He said that it was an Earth Kingdom proverb, but none of the earthbenders I've ever worked with have ever heard it, so I think he might have made it up to make someone feel better or something.
"Anyway, he said that people build their worlds on pillars made out of people and…uh the bigger the pillar the more important the person." Bolin continued to just lie where he was, apparently asleep.
"I always thought he was just spouting wise-sounding nonsense so that people would think he…was…wise.
"But now? Now I get it."