Opinions are, above all, unpleasant. On an individual level, it goes without saying: they are the chains, the fetters of thought. On a collective level, who can stand them? An opinion is never as timely as it would be to fail to say it. People like to be listened to, not to listen. That is why it is so easy to win their sympathy: one just has to relate to them in silence, that is, listen to them without saying anything. Whether this is possible, or even bearable, is another matter…
Category: Notes
The Book of Disquiet, by Fernando Pessoa
I reread this formidable The Book of Disquiet and feel compelled to toast it with a few words. Impresses not only its originality, but also the poet’s unique ability to sustain the atmosphere that is characteristic of him. Alternating descriptions and thoughts, revealing an entire inner universe of a very ordinary “bookkeeper’s assistant” from Lisbon, there are three hundred and fifty harmonious, rhythmic pages that express a meditative mental state and a very refined perception. The poet manages to be acute, powerful, and sometimes cruel without seeming so, in a prose so beautiful that it blinds itself against any repulsive sentiment and soothes the reader’s spirit. Great art, great philosophy, immortal pages. Hail, Pessoa!
Utopia Is to Become a Complete Stranger
Utopia is to become a complete stranger. To wake up in a metropolis and go out into the street without a good morning interrupting the morning flow of thought. In the afternoon, the freedom for the mind to continue its path in silence, and in the evening, peace to think. No phone calls, no exchanges of words, nothing. Impossible, of course. Otherwise, It would not have to idealize paradise at all.
Philosophy Is Mediocre When It Is Reduced to a Rhetorical Contest
Philosophy is mediocre when it is reduced to a rhetorical contest. It loses its distinctive character and becomes as shallow as a political debate. The philosopher gives up sincerity for eloquence; he spends his spirit on the vilest convince. How exhausts the empty discussions about “systems”, about “methods”, about the “errors” of others, when the effort would be much better spent, even as a demonstration of respect for philosophy, in individualizing and strengthening the expressiveness of one’s own perception.