Contradictions

[ellenkushner]

"It is not possible for a man to rise above himself and his humanity . . . . We are, I know not how, double in ourselves, so that what we believe we disbelieve, and cannot rid ourselves of what we condemn." -- Montaigne

"Contradictions in human character are one of its most consistent notes." -- Muriel Spark, - one of my favorite modern novels; set in 1949, it opens with "How wonderful it feels to be an artist and a woman in the twentieth century!" and ends "I went on my way rejoicing."


"I find there are many pieces in this one fabrick of man; this frame is raised upon a mass of Antipathies. I am one methinks, but as the World; wherein notwithstanding there are a swarm of distinct essences, and in them another World of contrarieties; we carry private and domestic enemies within, publick and more hostile adversaries without. The Devil, that did but buffet St. Paul, plays methinks at sharps with me." -- Sir Thomas Browne, Religio Medici (1635)


Do I contradict myself?
Very well then I contradict myself,
(I am large, I contain multitudes.)
-- Walt Whitman, "Song of Myself"

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My thanks to Professor Edward Tayler of Columbia University, who set me on the path of contradictions.

Comments

[abostick59.livejournal.com]

The Montaigne quote could be an epigraph for what I'm taking classes in for the next two weeks. It's a keeper.