Nothing replaces the benefits of continuous, slow and prolonged work, which requires daily effort but is not completed in just one session. The qualities extracted from this practice soften expectations and solidify character. In short, discipline and patience are cultivated, virtues that together raise the spirit to another level.
Tag: philosophy
The Beginner Praises Easily
The beginner praises easily and hardly criticizes. This is because praise is more in line with his admiration of something that, if he understands it, he feels is still unattainable for him; criticism, on the other hand, requires knowledge and security that he doesn’t have. With the experienced, the opposite is true: criticism is natural, almost automatic, and praise requires the rare virtue of recognizing in the other person, despite his own knowledge, an ability that he may not have. The beginner therefore grows by being able to criticize, while the experienced does so by learning to praise: both, in short, by going against what is easiest for them.
True Artists and True Philosophers…
True artists and true philosophers have in common that their work is the result of reflection on experience. From this, in both, springs the need for expression which, in each, is realized differently. In other words: it is through reflection that they discover what to say, and afterwards that they experience the sensation of having to say it. The rest is how to do it – the least important thing. But this initial impulse that unites them attests to the truth of what they do and sets them apart from all those who, for the most diverse reasons, perpetuate falsification.
“Misanthropy Is Limited to Men”
The distinguished Marquis de Maricá says that “misanthropy is limited to men, it doesn’t include women”. Another mistake… Perhaps the maxim applies to recreational misanthropy, misanthropy when cultivated as a hobby; but not at all to genuine, professional misanthropy. This targets, or rather reacts to, human behavior, which is clearly different from that of a stone or a dog, and is present in both men and women. If a woman behaves like a stone, it is true that the misanthrope will spare her. But as long as, oh God, as long as she speaks, as long as she is capable of vibrating the strings and sonorizing a human voice, as long as she is capable of directing a word to another soul, and therefore forcing, impelling, constraining a communicative act and claiming attention for herself, the woman will inevitably be included in the list, the marquis is wrong and there is nothing to be done.