It must be a rather unpleasant task for the historian who, having set out to narrate the biography of the great man, cannot hide from it the ever-present and ever-hateful action of the mediocre men who envy him and try to bring him down. And, after all, there seems to have been no historian who could get rid of this burden, since, in order to avoid the envious, a talented man would have to never show himself. If he does manage to stand out, the relentless Japanese proverb ensues. There really is no greater effort than that required to know the world and not curse it; reflected optimism is a tremendous and meritorious intellectual feat.
Anything From an Author Is Tolerated
Anything from an author is tolerated, except dishonesty. To fail on this point is to nullify everything that is produced. As readers, the mere feeling that there are hidden intentions in a work and that we are being deceived is reason enough to throw it away; after all, how can we willingly play the clown? If we cannot, safeguarded by the sincerity of the author, give it the credit it needs to be worth reading, it is best to abandon it. There are, of course, countless other authors who fulfill this requirement and have a lot to teach us.
Comparing the News With History Books
Comparing the news with history books is extremely educational, as it shows that this sense of urgency, that something decisive is always happening, is absolutely unfounded. How little is left of these trifles! And we do not even need to look at history: we open newspapers in other countries and see the same inclination, perhaps driven by marketing, to present everything as important, while we, here at the end of the world, do not even know the bulk of the actors painted as extremely important. Almost everything is exaggerated, when what really matters cannot be found in any newspaper.
Almost Always, Out of Pity…
Almost always, out of pity for these Notes, the comment comes out purified of the real contemporary fact that motivated it. Although the healing effect is undoubtedly palpable, perhaps the commentator seems to exaggerate too much in his unavoidable radicalism. But how difficult it is to comment on current events! That is why it is sometimes necessary to break protocol. At an auction in New York, a “work” consisting of a banana taped to a wall was sold for more than six million dollars. The buyer, is said, has also acquired the right to replicate the “work” as many times as he wants, and it will be up to him to replace the banana when it rots. What can be said? It is undoubtedly a very powerful headline, but what is most impressive is to see in the thousands of articles that the work is not enough, the author is not enough, the price is not enough; but there is an audience, there are connoisseurs, there are promoters, there is a dizzying profusion of interested parties! It is too much! These Notes must be taken care of, because the risk of contagion is real!