Except by mistake, Freud said of misanthropy “a psychic state”; in the dictionary, we find a dull “lack of sociability”. Both definitions are glaringly inaccurate, for they hide the essentially active character of misanthropy. So we need an expert to redo the shoddy work and enlighten us on the meaning of this very special word. Thank you very much. Misanthropy is a sport. In it, two teams confront each other: that of the misanthrope, consisting of himself; and that of humanity, consisting of all other people. The misanthrope’s goal is to avoid humanity, and humanity’s goal is to harass him. The differential of this sport is that its practitioner practices it all the time, and every step of his life can be considered a move. Let’s take soccer as a reference. If the misanthrope, for example, realizing the threat of an approach on the street, pulls out his cell phone from his pocket and pretends to answer a call, or pretends to be concentrated in order not to take part in a stupid conversation around him, he performs something like a dribble. If he misses any social occasion, it is as if he scored a goal. Fernando Pessoa pretended to be ill to miss a family Christmas: an honest goal. A beautiful goal would be the one Karl Kraus scored when, asked on a train if he was the famous Karl Kraus, he answered the stranger with a resounding “no”. Thoreau, moving to a forest to live among wild animals, scored a goal similar to Maradona’s against England in the 1986 World Cup. And so on… With these few examples, one can already see that misanthropy has nothing passive or passing, being much less a “psychic state” than a daily and wonderfully stimulating practice. Thank you very much.
Category: Notes
If Something Is Published, It Will Be Read
If something is published, it will be read: this is an inevitable reality. But it is good to think that this will never happen, because then one can create with tranquility and independence. There is something beautiful and solemn about this silence that accompanies the creation and, more often than not, the reception of a work. It is an illusory but extremely stimulating silence, and has been present in most of the great works ever conceived. If he thinks of the natural breaking of this enchantment, the artist will judge it best never to publish anything, and therefore should not do so: he should allow himself to be deluded, and enjoy the stillness as if it were guaranteed and eternal.
Perhaps There Is No More Pleasurable Feeling…
Perhaps there is no more pleasurable feeling than that which springs forth as laughter in the face of the most bitter circumstances. A sincere laugh, that crosses the spirit and manifests itself fully, as if radiating through every molecule. Finally, life, and to hell with it! Without a doubt, it takes a lot of maturity to experience it, and the representation of the great sage as the one who allows himself a serene, perennial, carefree laugh is quite right. There is a transcendent dimension in this laughter that springs forth as the outcome of a tremendous spiritual effort.
Those Who Are Impressed by the Power of Love…
Those who are impressed by the power of love certainly do not know misanthropy, a feeling that is infinitely more powerful and that does not detach itself from the one it dominates for a single second. Every aspect of reality reminds of it and reinforces it; it cannot be stripped for any activity. The intellectual stimulation it provides is indescribable, and he who experiences it finds himself always perfecting it, regardless of how he lives and what surroundings he is used to. If the misanthrope gives his neighbor an opportunity, he reinforces his misanthropy; if he does not, he reinforces it anyway. Therefore, he almost always lives in a planned manner, and every action that he performs or relegates takes on a clearer meaning and has more easily measurable consequences. Misanthropy amplifies every act and every feeling, and renders any manifestation that might cause it to give way of an extraordinary singularity.