The biography of Ignatius of Loyola seems fictitious. To read it in this century, to read it in the West, observing what the West has become, its great cities, its concerns, is like putting oneself in front of an absurd narrative. It is amazing the simplicity with which stupefying facts are presented in this “Autobiography”, written by Father Luís Gonçalves da Câmara, who limited himself to transcribing what he heard from the mouth of Ignatius. A few times, we read that Ignatius risked his life during his trajectory, but the impression we get is that, since he left his father’s house, he was always under constant threat. Imprisonment, trials, persecution, sickness, incredible poverty… it is hard to imagine harsher conditions for this man reputed to be a saint. The mere fact that he passed the sixth decade of his life, as he did, already seems to us, unaccustomed men, a true miracle.
Tag: history
“Heroes” Worthy of Contempt
The way in which, in War and Peace, Tolstoy repeatedly scorns the “military genius” who left Russia destroyed, and all his vile admirers, is an overwhelming demonstration of his nobility and moral high-mindedness. The disservice historians do by idolizing murderous madmen, slaves to the most abject ambitions who made human flesh the springboard for their petty desires, presenting them as superior creatures and models of virtue, is worthy of total repulsion. Such historians, mediocre bootlickers, often find the admirable in perverts responsible for astonishing carnages, and narrate it with the pomp of a patriotism clothed in honor—but they are the same ones who, in life, sell honor for public praise and beg on their knees for acceptance.
An Evolutionary Process Where the False Perishes
If historically there is, as Thomas Carlyle says, an evolutionary process where the false repeatedly perishes, one must conclude that society is bound to erect and overthrow lies. Otherwise we must ask: why does something equally false always overlap with the overthrown falsehood? Or even: how many more millennia will it take for mankind to get rid of this evil cycle? On a collective level, any outline of a solution seems impossible.
Thomas Carlyle on Mohammed
Thomas Carlyle’s essay on Mohammed is remarkable. First, for the superior prose: how impressive to follow him handling the English language! It is a vivid prose, full of expressive images, intelligent and syntactically varied. Then, for Carlyle’s ability to see what others cannot see, for his courage to confront the current, rejecting blind logic and seeking to understand what lies behind and beyond the lines of Mohammed. Very beautiful, very beautiful… it is a pleasant essay to read. In any case, I think I still prefer to sit at Voltaire’s table.