It is difficult to imagine a prolonged state in which the personality is not disturbed by conflicting elements. Such disturbances, whether external or internal, cannot be totally overcome. What they can is to be tolerated, analyzed and absorbed. And the personality is made by what remains after confronting them. If we think about it for a moment, it can sometimes be indignant to realize that the shock is often gratuitous and damaging. But then we realize that personality is an effort, and we see the merit in persisting in its depuration.
Category: Notes
Stylistically, a Lot Is Tolerated…
Stylistically, a lot is tolerated; but this habit of hiding what is being said, of intentionally complicating the simple, is only tolerated if the effort of interpretation rewards; otherwise, the author can only irritate. And the worst thing is to see the number of examples of this practice, which for some passes for merit, as if saying something obliquely were saying it creatively. It is pitiful. The same language, sublimated by the greats, becomes a refuge for those who have nothing to say.
From an Educational Point of View…
From an educational point of view, a bad example has the advantage of scandalizing. That is why it sticks in the memory more easily, and sometimes so strongly that remembering it causes immediate revulsion and eliminates the possibility of repeating it. Thus, there are cases in which it is much more effective in conveying a lesson that the best examples would only scratch at if they tried to do so. The scandal is not forgotten, nor is it immunized.
It Is Very Difficult to Accustom the Mind…
It is very difficult to accustom the mind to the stoic precept of not worrying about the conditions about which nothing can be done, because these are often the most torturous and the ones that one would most like to overcome. However, it can be seen that the resulting tension is almost always due to the contrast between reality and a desired situation, the latter being the work of desire and this being the child of self-love. Thus, it is clear that to destroy self-love is to break down this whole chain of suffering, but how difficult it is to do so without slipping into unproductive inertia! It takes a long time for the mind to get used to acting without expectations, and when this beatific state is reached, one realizes that it is also unstable, and requires a lot of effort to make it last.