There is a remarkable difference between having a “cause” and wanting to impose it on the rest of men. It is possible to say, at first, that this difference is character. But it can also be said that the more the feeling inspired by the “cause” is true, the more its “benefits” are clear in the mind of the one who has it, the more will be the natural impulse to want other men to have it too, or to “enjoy” it. Here, then, we come to the imposition. There is no way to interpret it, regardless of how it is practiced, or how it is founded, if not as a primary violation, a direct attack on the freedom of the individual. The imposition will never be noble, and after the tyranny has been perpetrated, those who have suffered it can no longer be called free men.
Category: Notes
Antero Again…
It is amazing how I have been able to see Antero through his verses. I read a biography of him, and a myriad of facts not described come to me as obvious—facts that I end up confirming with the help of other biographers. Thus, I understand him completely and perfectly, from his intimate torments to his behavior; and if an Eça tells him of a “fleeting”, though “consoling” coexistence, I already know the reasons, I already deduce the mystery that hides this apparently contradictory posture. I know how Antero felt, and I know how heavy burden he carried that he could not talk about. It is touching to see him described by Eça, to see how he imposed an overwhelming victory over his inner conflicts through his personality. And finally…
Running Over Laziness
It is simply delicious the sensation we experience when, faced with a complex task that needs to be redone due to a small mistake, having our mind against us, which points out endless reasons to get rid of the new effort, we run over our laziness, redo the task and, finally, we are rewarded with a much better result than the previous one. It is curious to note how virtuous and decisive initiative is in these cases. The problem arises, everything seems to advise us to avoid the new effort; and, if we do, a long remorse follows from the failure, coming from not having done it better. On the other hand, if we take the opposite route and the result rewards us, we are seized by a mixture of relief and satisfaction. Happy is he who never gives in to laziness…
The Temple of Literary Glory
According to Schopenhauer, out of d’Alembert’s pen came this beautiful reflection on the “temple of literary glory”:
L’intérieur du temple n’est habité que par des morts qui n’y étaient pas de leur vivant, et par quelques vivants que l’on met à la porte, pour la plupart, dès qu’ils sont morts.
What a thing! And worse is to note the very rare exceptions to this rule. The most obvious conclusion is that of Cioran, Valéry, Voltaire, that success is a true disgrace for the artist. But when we inquire into the reason for such a deduction, we are led to admit that there is nothing more beneficial, if not essential to the artist than a mixture of failure and solitude. That isolation is productive is easily understandable; but failure? spending one’s life neglected, if not repudiated? And note that this is what happened in the overwhelming majority of cases to those who eternalized themselves in d’Alembert’s temple.