Author Topic: The great disillusionist  (Read 962 times)

Nearly Sane

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The great disillusionist
« on: February 01, 2021, 01:10:48 PM »
Good essay on Giacomo Leopardi who should be much better known outside Italy.  Zibaldone is just extraordinary


https://aeon.co/amp/essays/why-read-the-nihilistic-work-of-giacomo-leopardi-today?__twitter_impression=true


Udayana

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Re: The great disillusionist
« Reply #1 on: February 01, 2021, 03:25:55 PM »
 V.interesting

The trouble with too much thinking is that you end up taking yourself too seriously. Best to just splash around a bit - not drown in the abyss?

Ah, but I was so much older then ... I'm younger than that now

Nearly Sane

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Re: The great disillusionist
« Reply #2 on: February 01, 2021, 03:32:53 PM »
V.interesting

The trouble with too much thinking is that you end up taking yourself too seriously. Best to just splash around a bit - not drown in the abyss?
I would suggest the opposite view. With not enough thinking, we are subject to certainty and nothing takes it as seriously as certainty.

Udayana

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Re: The great disillusionist
« Reply #3 on: February 03, 2021, 11:09:16 AM »
I would suggest the opposite view. With not enough thinking, we are subject to certainty and nothing takes it as seriously as certainty.

Zibaldone April 26 1826:

Quote
Everything is evil. That is to say, everything that is, is evil; that
each thing exists is an evil; each thing exists only for an evil end;
existence is an evil and made for evil; the end of the universe is
evil; the order and the state, the laws, the natural development of
the universe are nothing but evil, and they are directed to nothing
other than evil.


(Too much) Thinking can take you to places that are very difficult to get out of! At the end of the day how you feel or what you do may be more important than what you think?

Ah, but I was so much older then ... I'm younger than that now

Nearly Sane

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Re: The great disillusionist
« Reply #4 on: February 03, 2021, 11:13:46 AM »
Zibaldone April 26 1826:

(Too much) Thinking can take you to places that are very difficult to get out of! At the end of the day how you feel or what you do may be more important than what you think?
Not sure you can separate them in that way. How you feel is surely in part what you think, and vice versa? The same for what you do.
« Last Edit: February 03, 2021, 11:33:51 AM by Nearly Sane »