“Only by destroying what he has done does a writer demonstrate strength.”
— Oh please. Be “weak” enough to finish something and publish it, so you can actually be a writer (and he knew that). If he means destroying bits and pieces in increments on the path toward making other and better things, and then finishing and publishing, OK then. But I bet he was just trying to be naughty by giving atrocious advice to whoever would one day read his notebooks -- as he knew someone would.
“Over a twenty-year period, every one of my theoretical doubts has been converted into a practical doubt.”
— Yes. Same here. Very good. For this one, I take back all those awful things I said. (But the period is more like 50 for me, and counting.) (And if you want to convert theoretical doubts into practical doubts on a wholesale basis, have children. They present untheoretical, even anti-theoretical, purely practical challenges from the get-go. That is part of the fun.)
-I've just recently learned that they always left a window lighted at night in Kremlin so folks would see: Stalin doesn't sleep, he works, he worries about people. So they can even come and make sure: yes indeed he doesn't sleep. A calming thought, it was to many I guess
Had no idea.
-There is inherent kindness, some people are just born differently. I noticed sometimes it coincides with attention deficite disorder lol
I thoroughly enjoyed these snippets! Not in agreement with them, but in recognition of the writer's/translator's full embrace of what was, and frankly still is often present. I lived with a man, what seems now to have been thousands of years ago, who was brilliant, generous to a fault, alcoholic and a nihilist. A Jew who escaped, and helped his family and friends escape, Ceausescu's regime, he idolized Hitler ... watching Leni Riefenstahl's films over and over again, around the clock. He was one of the most simultaneously generous and toxic people, to me personally and many others, ever in my life. And I still love him. Though I have taken a different train than he took. Thanks for reminding me of that infernal, crafty perspective of the gifted nihilist. Nothing else like it.
I let substack do the slow reveal when I find people here. Not immediately googling leads to fantastic surprises like this. Cioran is a hero, thank you. Marco Vassi has a wonderful book, Lying Down: The Horizontal Worldview.
“Only by destroying what he has done does a writer demonstrate strength.”
— Oh please. Be “weak” enough to finish something and publish it, so you can actually be a writer (and he knew that). If he means destroying bits and pieces in increments on the path toward making other and better things, and then finishing and publishing, OK then. But I bet he was just trying to be naughty by giving atrocious advice to whoever would one day read his notebooks -- as he knew someone would.
“Over a twenty-year period, every one of my theoretical doubts has been converted into a practical doubt.”
— Yes. Same here. Very good. For this one, I take back all those awful things I said. (But the period is more like 50 for me, and counting.) (And if you want to convert theoretical doubts into practical doubts on a wholesale basis, have children. They present untheoretical, even anti-theoretical, purely practical challenges from the get-go. That is part of the fun.)
-I've just recently learned that they always left a window lighted at night in Kremlin so folks would see: Stalin doesn't sleep, he works, he worries about people. So they can even come and make sure: yes indeed he doesn't sleep. A calming thought, it was to many I guess
Had no idea.
-There is inherent kindness, some people are just born differently. I noticed sometimes it coincides with attention deficite disorder lol
But I'll stop my boring commentary here
Great read; vastly enjoyed it. Thank you, Philip
I thoroughly enjoyed these snippets! Not in agreement with them, but in recognition of the writer's/translator's full embrace of what was, and frankly still is often present. I lived with a man, what seems now to have been thousands of years ago, who was brilliant, generous to a fault, alcoholic and a nihilist. A Jew who escaped, and helped his family and friends escape, Ceausescu's regime, he idolized Hitler ... watching Leni Riefenstahl's films over and over again, around the clock. He was one of the most simultaneously generous and toxic people, to me personally and many others, ever in my life. And I still love him. Though I have taken a different train than he took. Thanks for reminding me of that infernal, crafty perspective of the gifted nihilist. Nothing else like it.
I let substack do the slow reveal when I find people here. Not immediately googling leads to fantastic surprises like this. Cioran is a hero, thank you. Marco Vassi has a wonderful book, Lying Down: The Horizontal Worldview.