Friday, July 11, 2014

The Night has a thousand eyes

The Night has a thousand eyes,
And the Day but one;
Yet the light of the bright world dies
With the dying sun.

The mind has a thousand eyes,
And the heart but one;
Yet the light of a whole life dies
When love is done.

(Francis William Bourdillon)

Saturday, June 21, 2014

There is more to life

«There is more to life than increasing its speed».

(Mahatma Gandhi)

Friday, June 13, 2014

Il silenzio e il pianto


«Il silenzio è il pianto più forte del mondo».
                                                                                   (A. J. Heschel)

Wednesday, June 11, 2014

William Whewell

«William Whewell (1794-1866), well read in many subjects, could speak with authority on any topic of conversation that arose in the Trinity Senior Common Room, to the infuriation of some of his colleagues. Gathering up a number of reference books, including an old encyclopedia, they selected the obscure subject of Chinese musical instruments and studied it assiduously for several days. During the after-dinner conversation the next Sunday, they introduced the topic. Those who knew nothing of the conspiracy were astounded at the unexpected erudition of their colleagues; even Whewell remained silent for a while. Then, turning to one of the conspirators, he remarked, “I gather you have been reading the encyclopedia article on Chinese musical instruments I wrote some years back”».

Sunday, June 1, 2014

¿Cómo me vas a explicar


¿Cómo me vas a explicar,
di, la dicha de esta tarde,
si no sabemos porqué
fue, ni cómo, ni de qué
ha sido,
si es pura dicha de nada?

En nuestros ojos visiones,
visiones y no miradas,
no percibían tamaños,
datos, colores, distancias.

De tan desprendidamente
como estaba yo y me estabas
mirando, más que mirando,
mis miradas te soñaban,
y me soñaban las tuyas.

Palabras sueltas, palabras,
deleite en incoherencias,
no eran ya signo de cosas,
eran voces puras, voces
de su servir olvidadas.

¡Cómo vagaron sin rumbo,
y sin torpeza las caricias!

Largos goces iniciados,
caricias no terminadas,
como si aun no se supiera
en qué lugar de los cuerpos
el acariciar se acaba,
y anduviéramos buscándolo,
en lento encanto, sin ansia.

Las manos, no era tocar
lo que hacían en nosotros,
era descubrir; los tactos
nuestros cuerpos inventaban,
allí en plena luz, tan claros
como en la plena tiniebla,
en donde sólo ellos pueden
ver los cuerpos,
con las ardorosas palmas.

Y de estas nadas se ha ido
fabricando, indestructible,
nuestra dicha, nuestro amor,
nuestra tarde.

Por eso no fue nada,
sé que esta noche reclinas
lo mismo que una mejilla
sobre este blancor de plumas
-almohada que ha sido alas-
tu ser, tu memoria, todo,
y que todo te descansa,
sobre una tarde de dos,
que no es nada, nada, nada.

(Pedro Salinas)

Saturday, May 24, 2014

Tutte le verità


Quando qualcuno afferma bellamente: «Tutte le verità sono relative!» entra, senza neppure accorgersene, in un paradosso di Russell, poiché dichiara che esiste almeno una verità non relativa ed è quella con cui egli dichiara che tutte le verità sono relative!
Kant aveva già risposto a queste confusioni chiarendo che ci è certo possibile avere unsere Wirklichkeit (la nostra realtà), ma non ci è possibile avere unsere Wahrheit (la nostra verità).  
 
(Sergio Caldarella)

Sunday, May 11, 2014

The mature person


«The mature, productive, rational person will choose a system which permits him to be mature, productive and rational. The person who has been blocked in his development must revert to primitive and irrational systems which in turn prolong and increase his dependence and irrationality. He will remain on the level which mankind in its best representatives has already overcome thousand of years ago».

(E. Fromm, Man for himself, 1947).