Jung is truly admirable! The effort he undertook in trying to integrate the irrational elements of the human psyche into his analytical psychology, aware of the criticism he would receive from the scientific community, is worthy of the highest appreciation. Jung not only refused to deny or hide what he saw, but he sincerely sought explanations for extremely intricate problems, exposing them even if groping in the dark. The vision of “personality” that he expounds in this paper, translated as The development of personality, shows an acuity very rare in children of academia, and affronts the notion that man is limited to a biological-social construction. Personality cannot be taught or generalized, does not manifest spontaneously, and consists of an act of courage against herd behavior. It is a badge, a destiny and a curse. It is a conscious and individual deliberation, which requires a commitment to oneself and is never given out of necessity. It is, therefore, a choice, with unbearable consequences for the majority, and which completely changes the behavioral paradigm of the one who makes it. Jung, perhaps the greatest of modern psychiatrists, was especially great for not settling into the comfort of psychology textbooks and not giving in to the delusional postulate that the human mind obeys a universal functioning.
Category: Notes
It Is Indeed a Pleasure to Find in Authors…
It is indeed a pleasure to find in authors conclusions that we have reached previously and on our own. But nothing compares to finding them contrary to ours when, if they do not refute us completely, they prove to be equally reasonable. In the first case, we only rejoice out of vanity; in the second, we actually grow. It must be admitted, however, that this is a rare pleasure, hardly innate, and more often the result of a continuous effort, of an education of the mind to accept contradictions and understand reality as ambiguous and multifaceted—something that very few spirits are willing to do.
In Portuguese, the Beauty and Precision of the Speech…
In Portuguese, the beauty and precision of discourse, whether in prose or verse, is mainly due to the good choice of verbs. These, well-chosen, dispense with adverbs and avoid periphrases, only justifiable when the cadence demands. It is impressive to note the number of verbs in the language, something that requires careful and constant study by the serious artist, who will only master them perhaps after long years of effort. Flaubert, if he wrote in Portuguese, would probably devote his obsession to them, and not to nouns.
Marriage Is the Death of Lyric-Love Poetry
Verses by Byron:
There’s doubtless something in domestic doings
Which forms, in fact, true Love’s antithesis;
Romances paint at full length people’s wooings,
But only give a bust of marriages;
For no one cares for matrimonial cooings,
There’s nothing wrong in a connubial kiss:
Think you, if Laura had been Petrarch’s wife,
He would have written sonnets all his life?
There are truths that are too unpleasant and deservedly avoided. There is no denying it: marriage is the death of lyric-love poetry. Or, rather, it ends the latter the instant the desire is consummated. To exist, it is necessary that the poet regrets not having what he covets, that is, it is necessary that something hinders the realization of his fantasy. The verses will sprout only as long as the idealized object is unavailable, and therefore allows itself to be painted with extraordinary form, something that will never occur if it proves to be a real entity. And here we go: Petrarch’s love gave birth to verses because it was unrequited,—an obvious conclusion that needs no biographical support,—as it occurred and occurs with all his peers. Whatever one may say, this is the truth: the poet capable of fulfilling his own will will hardly ever make “love” verses.