"The truest of all men was the Man of Sorrows, and the truest of all books is Solomon's, and Ecclesiastes is the fine hammered steel of woe. "All is vanity." ALL. This wilful world hath not got hold of unchristian Solomon's wisdom yet. But he who dodges hospitals and jails, and walks fast crossing graveyards, and would rather talk of operas than hell; calls Cowper, Young, Pascal, Rousseau, poor devils all of sick men; and throughout a care-free lifetime swears by Rabelais as passing wise, and therefore jolly;- not that man is fitted to sit down on tomb-stones, and break the green damp mould with unfathomably wondrous Solomon.
"But even Solomon, he says, "the man that wandereth out of the way of understanding shall remain" (i.e. even while living) "in the congregation of the dead." Give not thyself up, then, to fire, lest it invert thee, deaden thee; as for the time it did me. There is a wisdom that is woe; but there is a woe that is madness. And there is a Catskill eagle in some souls that can alike dive down into the blackest gorges, and soar out of them again and become invisible in the sunny spaces. And even if he for ever flies within the gorge, that gorge is in the mountains; so that even in his lowest swoop the mountain eagle is still higher than other birds upon the plain, even though they soar. -Melville, Moby Dick - The Try-Works
Dal tema del film "The Mission"
Ennio Morricone e Dulce Pontes
Video eseguito da BACIRUBATIDINOTTE
First time I saw that Catskill Eagle quote was in a Spencer book by Robert Parker, and its a hell of a metaphor.
Posted by: Christopher Taylor at September 27, 2010 3:11 PMcoincidence?
we joooooooze read Ecclesiastes on Sukkot and it is Sukkot now.
this book teaches us that the wisdom gained in life's ups n downs is more important than the intellectualism of book-learning.
happy Sukkot.
and remeber: of making blogs thee is no end...
Posted by: reliapundit at September 27, 2010 3:24 PMHurray Melville + Ennio!
Posted by: monkeyfan at September 27, 2010 6:59 PMReliapundit. I haven't seen that name in ages.
Posted by: M. Simon at September 29, 2010 10:13 PMGorgeous.
Posted by: apotheosis at September 30, 2010 9:17 AMEven though I have read this a couple of times since you posted it, I really needed to be reminded of it, tonight. Thank you, Gerard.
Posted by: Jewel at October 1, 2010 1:33 AMAh, Gerard, the vultures are back. Looking for whoever will devour their spam. I like my spam crunchy and flambéd.
[FLAME ON!]
Posted by: jewel at October 7, 2010 7:27 PMAnd the wisdom that is pain, but pain is madness. And there is a Catskill eagle in some souls that can alike dive down gorges and black flies away from them again and become invisible in the sunny spaces.
Posted by: Motorcycle Mirrors at October 8, 2010 10:57 PMDon't let American Digest die! It's much better than Rightnetwork...and it takes forever to load. Am I the only one to think so?
Posted by: Gary in Texas at October 9, 2010 9:20 AMYou're not the only one Gary.
Posted by: David McKinnis at October 10, 2010 12:38 PMThis book teaches us that the wisdom gained in life n goes down is more important than book learning intellectualism.
Posted by: Motorcycle Parts at October 13, 2010 1:49 AMThere is a Catskill eagle in some souls that can both immerse themselves in the canyons and black flies away from them again and become invisible in the sunny spaces.
Posted by: Motorcycle Parts at October 13, 2010 1:52 AM"It is impossible to speak in such a way that you cannot be misunderstood." -- Karl Popper N.B.: Comments are moderated to combat spam and may not appear immediately. Comments that exceed the obscenity or stupidity limits will be either edited or expunged.
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