It is ironic to observe that, in most cases, freedom does not produce good fruits when, on the other hand, the desire for freedom is one of the most potent propellers of the human spirit. Man, in order to be productive, seems to need a state that prohibits inertia out of simple necessity. And all the affliction that comes from the awareness of one’s own dependence, all the psychological torture that springs from this impossible desire for liberation, seem profitable after all! It is quite true that the time devoted to the necessary always seems more than tolerable; but there is no doubt that the mind used to continuous agitation, which draws its action from dissatisfaction with its circumstances, works more and better simply because it has become more active and vigorous—even if for, say, not very noble reasons.
Tag: philosophy
The Man Whose Life Expresses His Inner Motivation…
Zimmermann already noticed, two centuries in advance, what would be proved theoretically and practically by Frankl:
Une forte résolution et ce désir d’atteindre un grand but peuvent nous rendre supportables les douleurs les plus aiguës.
If, on the one hand, a man seized by emptiness highlights his fragility on a daily basis, a man whose life expresses his inner motivation, whose steps seem to him justified, full of meaning, this man seems of an entirely different kind. It is as if he has, all his life, trained himself for war, for deprivation, and for pain. Nothing seems able to shake him. He has erected, with long and patient effort, an impenetrable psychological fortress. Life has become clear to him, and the same sense of priorities that guides him prevents him from succumbing to the less important. What to the first is the end of the line, to him is a new opportunity for affirmation.
The Reclusive Man, Accustomed to Silence…
By Zimmermann, in my French translation:
On a dit avec raison que les savants astreints à une existence solitaire, et occupés de graves travaux, ne peuvent avoir ni la gaieté d’esprit, ni l’élégance de manières, ni la vivacité d’entretien des personnes qui vivent habituellement dans le monde et qui en connaissent tous les usages.
It is clear that a man with habits so rare and so contrasting with those of ordinary men will show himself, by his own behavior, to be essentially different. The reclusive man, accustomed to silence and deep meditation, molds himself to find the agitation of common surroundings progressively inhospitable. It is natural that he completely loses that expansiveness, that sociability commonly referred to as “good manners”. These, by the way, can only cause him disgust and astonishment. It all boils down to a matter of habits: like it or not, these are what will define, over time, what a man is.
To Develop Spiritually…
I believe it was Paracelsus who said that, in order to develop spiritually, man must spend at least half an hour every day in seclusion, in silence, and without thinking about anything. In other words, man must cultivate the habit of meditation. It is curious that the recommendation comes from a Westerner who lived in a time when there were no good translations of Eastern texts. Therefore, it is to be assumed that Paracelsus came to such conclusions through experience, the same experience that is indispensable to validate what has been taught for so many centuries in the East. There is no denying it: meditation, if practiced regularly, proves to be undoubtedly beneficial. With time, it is possible to notice ostensible differences between the days when one meditates and the days when the practice is postponed. The exercise of establishing one’s own will over the mind, i.e., the exercise of silencing, annulling, and controlling it, greatly strengthens not only self-control, but also the ability to choose. Not to mention the sensations that come from the mental state induced by deep meditation, and the doors that are opened by continuous effort. In short, the wise alchemist knew what he was talking about and was, without a doubt, a superior man.