Thursday, November 8th, 2018

Time	Event
10:22a	the warm, familiar chalk soil of Hampshire vēl viens izcils rakstītājs, brits (Hitčens recenzē Greja jaunāko grāmatu) As I think Gray understands very well, a good poem may describe more than it apparently expresses. This is not least because it will be concerned precisely with unimaginable reality. I considered that unimaginable reality recently as I looked down into a grave in the warm, familiar chalk soil of Hampshire in England, and contemplated the coffin, already half-covered with earth, of a good friend, younger than I am, who has just gone into eternity a little way ahead of me. And it was the profound poetry of monotheism, specifically that of the English Prayer Book, what Philip Larkin tried and failed to dismiss as a “vast moth-eaten musical brocade, created to pretend we never die,” that best enabled me to consider and respond to the unimaginable reality of the fact that in the midst of life, I was in death. https://home.isi.org/john-gray-spinoza-today (Comment on this)
11:14a	Chesterton – Gandhi link Vēl mazliet no izcilas publicistikas arhīva. Kāda Čestertona sleja maznozīmīgā avīželē "Illustrated London News" 1909. gada 18. septembrī. To nejauši izlasot, Mohandass Gandijs, pēc laikabiedru liecībām, esot bijis "thunderstruck" un sācis organizēt Indijas nevardarbīgo (ahimsa; satyagraha) atbrīvošanos no britu virsvadības. Iekopēju visu tekstu no American Chesterton Society mājaslapas. Manuprāt, graujoši talantīgi. (Visu laiku labākā grāmata par Akvīnas Tomu ir Čestertona mazā grāmatele, un visu laiku labākā grāmata par Asīzes Francisku ir viena cita Čestertona maza grāmatele; savukārt visu laiku labākā grāmata par Gandiju ir Čestertona prozas inficētā trapista Tomasa Mērtona maza grāmatele, utt.) It is this lack of atmosphere that always embarrasses me when my friends come and tell me about the movement of Indian Nationalism. I do not doubt for a moment that the young idealists who ask for Indian independence are very fine fellows; most young idealists are fine fellows. I do not doubt for an instant that many of our Imperial officials are stupid and oppressive; most Imperial officials are stupid and oppressive. But when I am confronted with the actual papers and statements of the Indian Nationalists I feel much more dubious, and, to tell the truth, a little bored. The principal weakness of Indian Nationalism seems to be that it is not very Indian and not very national. It is all about Herbert Spencer and Heaven knows what. What is the good of the Indian national spirit if it cannot protect its people from Herbert Spencer? I am not fond of the philosophy of Buddhism; but it is not so shallow as Spencer's philosophy; it has real ideas of its own. One of the papers, I understand, is called the Indian Sociologist. What are the young men of India doing that they allow such an animal as a sociologist to pollute their ancient villages and poison their kindly homes?( ... tālāk ... ) (3 Comments | Comment on this)

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