There is nothing less poetic and divine than remorse, that stabbing and invincible pain that sets in to hurt. To experience it is to allow the mind to blacken and the sight to catch only the unpleasantness in everything. It is like a dense force that pulls the spirit down in all circumstances. Curious to confront it with the repeated Buddhist recommendation to break and destroy attachments completely. I do not remember seeing them discoursing on the remorse resulting from the suffering generated by such an operation. Perhaps, it will be with effects and healing foreseen on this infinite path of self-annihilation. I am not sure that such a path leads to nirvana when traveled to the end; however, I do know what monsters it is capable of producing…
Once Absorbed, Schopenhauer’s Philosophy…
Once absorbed, Schopenhauer’s philosophy remains like a black lamp that the mind cannot turn away from. There is a magnetism about it, a dark attraction that always makes sure to draw attention to itself. And then it shows itself, always wise, true and unpleasant, as pushing with irrefutable arguments the conduct advocated by its creator. One can say what one wants about Schopenhauer, but one cannot deny his force.
Five Centuries of Genealogy
And we see, with a mixture of pleasure and surprise, Nabokov describing in detail five centuries of his genealogy. Five centuries! And, on the other side, those who do not even know the name of any of their great-grandparents. It is nice to think that there is, in both cases, a reason for this; and if in one of them we have a great writer extracting meaning from his family, filling himself with a healthy and stimulating sense of belonging, in the other we have the practical justification for a particular philosophy…
Bocage’s Burlesque Verses
There is something really funny about Bocage’s burlesque verses that, if read in small amounts, provoke sincere laughter. However, the fun boils down to this. They are verses that cannot be read in piles without causing boredom. This is the way obscenity is: it only causes effect as long as it astonishes; once the astonishment disappears, it can only generate boredom and aversion.