Laughter really seems to be the superior among all the ultimate manifestations of the spirit. Therefore, it is valid and even necessary that there be a conscious effort, in cases where it does not occur spontaneously, for it to erupt as a victory over more natural and immediate tendencies. Indignation and sadness are often justified, but can never represent the overcoming of the circumstances that triggered them. If they stimulate, that is the most they can do. Victory over any circumstance implies a detachment that allows one to look at them and laugh.
Tag: philosophy
Originality Achieves Recognition More Quickly
In art and philosophy, originality achieves recognition more quickly than value. In philosophy, however, original ideas seem to guarantee longevity, and the more original they are, the more surely they guarantee it. The phenomenon is curious, because it occurs in spite of the value of the idea. This one, if original and even absurd, even if refuted a thousand times, always seems to deserve the generosity of a citation. In art, however, although originality makes noise, it invariably wears out with time. In art, a work only endures if, beyond originality, it retains something of value.
Change Can Be Better Understood When…
Change can be better understood when we think not of “change,” but of the death of one state for the birth of a new one. When something changes, what was ceases to be and gives way to something different, either better or worse. The previous state, however, becomes the past. Thus, it is wise to be cautious whenever one thinks of changing something that pleases or satisfies. To change something good is to destroy it, and the result of the change will not always be able to satisfy.
Detaching From the World Does Not Mean…
Detaching from the world does not mean to annul any worldly expectations, but to adopt an impassive posture before what happens. To expect that a good action will bear good fruit is natural and even stimulating; to plan and act according to a plan in the hope that it will be successful is, at the same time, to value time and one’s own being. Quite different is the case of the one whose expectations neither stimulate nor dignify the act, and whose existence is reduced to an uncontrolled yearning that has in the world, and not in the act, the parameters for its own realization.