There is certainly some truth to the claim that there are dangerous writers, capable of transferring the bulk of their inner struggles to the reader. But these same writers tend to have a very different effect on readers who are already troubled. Sometimes, it is with them that the latter engage in the relationships that life has denied him, and sometimes these relationships are fundamental to him. Thus, where for some there is obvious danger, for him there is consolation, trust, and understanding. Through such writers, he discovers that his hidden anguish, intense though never expressed, is in fact a common experience. And, upon discovering this, he will carry forever a sense of gratitude.
Category: Notes
Pär Lagerkvist Is Truly a Great Writer
Pär Lagerkvist is truly a great writer, who managed to convey the essence of his harrowing experience through his writing; and he did so in such a way that, from the very first encounter, the reader finds himself in the presence of an extraordinary spirit. It is curious: the person who advances in thought without allowing it to detach from experience, and who moves forward feeling it, trying to integrate it, wishing to use it only to obtain answers to the questions he considers fundamental, always ends up entering the realm of religion. And then, one of two things happens: either he is the fortunate type who obtains answers, or he is, like Lagerkvist, the type who cannot obtain them, nor rid himself of the questions, and who soon finds himself overcome by an invincible obsession. The latter type seems to produce more prolific writers; and not just writers: it produces men who, through a lifetime of effort, ultimately give meaning to their lives, thereby also giving meaning to the endless anguish that will always be passed down from generation to generation.
No Matter How Well-Versed an Investor…
No matter how well-versed an investor is in financial literature, he will only truly understand what a crisis is when he experiences it—when, with all his resources fully allocated to financial assets, a crisis breaks out. Before that, no matter how much he knows, it amounts to very little. Afterward, he can finally say he has been baptized as an investor. And so it is on countless other occasions. Sometimes, the nature of an experience can only be grasped when the blood boils and the heart races: it is only by suffering it that one can grasp its power.
The Man Loves Coffee. For Years…
The man loves coffee. For years, for his entire life, he has drunk it every morning and enjoyed it. He loves the warm sensation on his tongue, the flavor that lingers in his mouth, and the obvious mental boost he relies on to work. He considers himself a connoisseur of the drink, just as he believes in the real benefits it brings to his daily life. In short: coffee makes him happy. Then comes the day when he tastes a superior-quality coffee that leaves his palate in ecstasy. When he returns to the old coffee he used to drink, he clearly realizes it is rubbish. He investigates the matter and discovers that it is indeed rubbish, in which real coffee, though made from lower-quality beans, is mixed with a wide variety of impurities, including some too unspeakable to name, and the whole lot is over-roasted to mask its defects. From that day forward, the same coffee, the drink he once cherished so much and which had brought him pleasure his whole life, will never satisfy him again. And philosophy, as it always does, poses the question: is knowledge worth it?