In many ways, it is harmful to be born into a society accustomed to failure. Psychologically, the effect is devastating. But failure itself, when experienced, can very well be beneficial. The problem perhaps starts with the parameters: by failing, new ones can be discovered. A new north emerges, which is perhaps worth adopting. The society that gets used to success sometimes inhibits the reflection that reveals possibilities. It creates victors who do not have to think. One day, however, they come face to face with the fundamental experience. The triumphant feeling ceases, and they envy those who, fortunately, had it when they had more time to live.
Category: Notes
The Man Who Nurtures the Ideal of Freedom…
The man who nurtures the ideal of freedom tends to become very bitter, because freedom is never complete and sometimes it only appears in conjunction with a restriction. It is pointless trying to solve the problem: in everything there is the undefined and the determined. Man is free within certain conditions and under certain aspects from which he can never fully free himself. To believe that one day he will finally be able to do so is simply stupid. But there are choices that cannot be given up; there are essential freedoms. Only to these should attention be directed.
In the Life of Study, Sooner or Later…
In the life of study, sooner or later, one has to develop the ability to deal with the paradox that one should or should only read what one wants to retain, although knowledge of piles and piles of books is necessary for progress in any serious study. There is never a definitive solution to this dilemma. It is necessary to read, and to read slowly; but the real interest that sustains attentive reading wants to go after sources, wants to broaden one’s understanding more and more: the result is a list of next readings that only grows, indefinitely. It soon becomes clear that it is not possible to read everything one wants to, that one has to choose. But choosing is another problem: it is necessary to mix the safe with the mysterious, the unexplored, because one never knows exactly what can be found in them. Finally, the study has to delve into lists, titles and indexes, and if it does not find everything it’s looking for, it has to recognize that finitude necessarily denotes a limit to what can be sought.
Something That the Mind Has a Hard Time…
Something that the mind has a hard time getting used to in biographies is comparing the greatness of some personalities with the absolute lack of recognition of such greatness while the biographees were alive. Often, posthumous consecration blurs this contrast, and we can hardly imagine the colossus, if not despised, walking the streets as an ordinary man. But we must always keep this in mind, and by doing so we can get much closer to the reality that surrounded him and better visualize his true dimension.