Cranach 1525 |
"Back when the humanities were thriving, the leading figures had a clear definition of their mission and a fervent passion for it. The job of the humanities was to cultivate the human core, the part of a person we might call the spirit, the soul, or, in D.H. Lawrence’s phrase, “the dark vast forest.”
This was the most inward and elemental part of a person. When you go to a funeral and hear a eulogy, this is usually the part they are talking about. Eulogies aren’t résumés. They describe the person’s care, wisdom, truthfulness and courage. They describe the million little moral judgments that emanate from that inner region.
The humanist’s job was to cultivate this ground — imposing intellectual order upon it, educating the emotions with art in order to refine it, offering inspiring exemplars to get it properly oriented."
David Brooks al New York Times del 20.06.2013
1 comentari:
Diuen que aquest periodista que ara escriu al The New York Times té una orientació política més aviat conservadora, però després de llegir-ne aquest fragment he pensat que m'agradaria conèixer més periodistes conservadors del nostre entorn (Valentí Puig, a part) amb aquest grau de lucidesa.
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