The writer is lost if he does not feel an irresistible attraction for the language, which compels him to study it even if he does not want to, in a practice whose abstinence manifests itself in deep discomfort. Whether this is predestination makes no difference. What is certain, however, is that he will not be able to bear the obstacles and frustrations of the profession if he does not feel himself evolving through prolonged study to infinity, only possible with a tolerance for letters that could best be defined as a passion. If he is chained to them and does not feel at ease, he must at least feel the characteristic satisfaction of fulfilling a duty.
Category: Notes
If Anything Has Been Achieved…
If anything has been achieved by the weakening of religion in the West, it has been the weakening of social bonds at the most basic level. The biblical neighbor has become more than ever a stranger, and the feeling that permeated or should permeate a community, whatever it may be, has become a generalized and absolute distrust. A common bond was broken without replacing it, and the result could only be segregation. From this, one can only conclude that the world has become an even more hostile place.
What Is Most Difficult and Dangerous…
What is most difficult and dangerous for us moderns in the study of history is to overcome the tendency to see our malice reflected in the actions of those who lived in a time not yet corrupted by marketing. We are inclined to find, always, deceit and self-interest behind every act and every word, when, in truth, not to go into the moral question, these did not reward with the generosity and security that they do now. To the modern mind purity of intention and acting without expecting anything in return are strange; therefore, in order to understand well some past lives, it is necessary, first of all, to undergo an evolution.
Although Simplifications Such as Manichaeism…
Although simplifications such as Manichaeism are criticized, the practical world allows, and sometimes requires such simplifications. When good faith and bad faith confront each other, it is fundamental, first of all, to denounce them. Thus, when one notices that most ideological disputes boil down to that primary confrontation, one must throw ideologies aside and stick to what is most important of all; otherwise, one enters the cunning game of bad faith.