Just as a public act is worth more for its educational character, the most it deserves is a certificate of education. Beyond that, one already enters the realm of vanity, which, when it does not imprison, corrupts. Boasting is always vicious, and the good that is done by boasting is done with more merit in silence. Only with a lot of effort can one preserves the sincerity of the act by using it as an instrument to obtain social approval.
Category: Notes
Boredom, Lassitude and the Vices…
Boredom, lassitude and the vices that result from them only occur when one does not do something for which one’s spirit is motivated. Since one cannot do it all the time, we all experience some of these vices. However, there is a huge difference between those who do something motivating on a daily basis, which therefore sucks their attention and interest, and those who do not. The latter end up letting themselves be led by automatic impulses, in a cycle that can only produce the most annoying and harmful boredom. They are therefore deprived of the delight that enthusiasm for some purpose is, which is to direct a full mind towards it and experience the sensation that time has been well spent. Life itself, as if by magic, becomes stimulating.
What Most Distinguishes Hatred…
What most distinguishes hatred is its obsessive, permanent and insatiable character, which is only satisfied with the complete and final destruction of its object. Thus, once hatred has been awakened, it is like a flame that cannot be extinguished. For whatever reason, the one who awakens it is better off giving up on any reconciliation. If he is targeted by the masses, he had better be aware that he has got himself into an endless battle.
Discomfort Chases Away Futility…
Discomfort chases away futility with such absolute effectiveness that its arrival often proves to be providential. Without it, how many enterprises would have been neglected, how many decisions would never have been made, how many biographies would no longer exist? So we have to value it as a motivating element, rather than giving in to the more common impulse to complain. When we look at their works, both in abundance and quality, discomfort completely overwhelms comfort.