thursday. thanks.

“For Juan José Saer, Don Quixote is an epic hero because he is uninterested in whether his mission of justice will succeed or fail: ‘This is the essential point that must be retained,’ says Saer; ‘that the clear or muddled awareness of the ineluctability of failure in every human enterprise is something fundamentally opposed to the moral of the epic.’ Compare this to Stevenson’s remark: 'Our mission in life is not to succeed, but to continue to fail in the best of spirits.’”

“The real damage is done by those millions who want to ‘survive.’ The honest men who just want to be left in peace. Those who don’t want their little lives disturbed by anything bigger than themselves. Those with no sides and no causes. Those who won’t take measure of their own strength, for fear of antagonising their own weakness. Those who don’t like to make waves—or enemies. Those for whom freedom, honour, truth, and principles are only literature. Those who live small, mate small, die small. It’s the reductionist approach to life: if you keep it small, you’ll keep it under control. If you don’t make any noise, the bogeyman won’t find you. But it’s all an illusion, because they die too, those people who roll up their spirits into tiny little balls so as to be safe. Safe?! From what? Life is always on the edge of death; narrow streets lead to the same place as wide avenues, and a little candle burns itself out just like a flaming torch does. I choose my own way to burn.”