I am delighted to note my disagreements with the language police, which, like the customs police, claim to be the lady of reason. I find it amusing and I am proud of my rebellion. I feel close to the crucified artists who have always aroused my admiration…
____________
Read more:
There is a wall between independent thought and popular thought that almost always makes repugnance between them. The interest of the masses is, by definition, contrary to individual interest. This means that to endorse popular discourse is to be contrary to oneself, is to see one’s own singularity diluted, is to be, in short, a nobody. And, of course, the nobody envies the dissident, the holder of the courage he lacks, so “the nail that stands out is hammered.” The coward rejoices at the approval he gains from his cowardice, feels accepted and safe. On the other hand, he lacks a headstone so he will not be forgotten… That’s all right. His friends will never let him miss the headstone.
____________
Read more:
I am sorry, thousand times sorry, but I find it hard to accept… Almost all of Shakespeare’s 154 sonnets on the same theme, almost all of Camões’ lyrical poetry chanting the same lament… How is that possible? I say and think myself a barbarian, amputee of my human dimension. But I cannot swallow it. Patience… I cannot and there is nothing to do. Here is the truth: there is a kind of suffering that’s never taken a single breath away from me, it does not arouse my compassion and sometimes it makes me laugh. O indolence! O cruelty!… I will end very, very badly with you…
____________
Read more:
What is vanity? Or rather: how does it manifest itself? The immediate impression of vanity in modern times refers to the refinement in dressing, in behaving. Is that reprehensible? I do not think so. The effects of the care in dressing, as well as those of adorning one’s own house, or cultivating a beautiful garden, are positive. The human being respects what is beautiful, he is inspired, he wants to be beautiful as well: beauty, therefore, ramifies. Therefore, I see vanity, in this nuance, as positive. However, there is in this quality a destructive manifestation associated with immodesty, pride, presumption. There is in modern man’s psyche a terrible impulse towards the affirmation of his value. A veiled will, although wild, which manifests itself in the attachment to one’s own ideas, in the need to gain respect, agreement, and whose substance is summed up in immaturity. Someone who takes himself seriously lacks a conscience. How can one look sincerely in the mirror and not laugh?…
____________
Read more:
