I picked it up again a few days ago and read the following paragraph. It means even more now than it did 14 years ago. I was going to italicize the whole quote, but decided to leave it as is. Do you find that your brain "checks out" when someone, for the sake of emphasis, italicizes a series of sentences? The italics have the opposite effect on me! Is it just me? Is this some subconscious way of rebelling? Or am I just weird. Don't answer that. =) I digress. . .Here's the quote:
"I think that all artists, regardless of degree of talent, are a painful, paradoxical combination of certainty and uncertainty, of arrogance and humility, constantly in need of reassurance, and yet with a stubborn streak of faith in their validity, no matter what. When I look back on that decade of total failure––it's been a mixture, both before, and since––there was, even on the days of rejection slips, a tiny, stubborn refusal to be completely put down. And I think, too, and possibly most important, that there is a faith simply in the validity of art; when we talk about ourselves as being part of the company of such people as Mozart of van Gogh or Dostoesvksy, it has nothing to do with comparison, or pitting talent against talent; it has everything to do with a way of looking at the universe. My husband said, "But people might think you're putting yourself alongside Dostoevsky." The idea is so impossible that I can only laugh in incredulity. Dostoevsky is a giant; I look up to him; I sit at his feet; perhaps I will be able to learn something from him. But we do face the same direction, no matter how giant his stride, how small mine."
Madeleine L'Engle, A Circle of Quiet, p. 38
3 comments:
Lee. This paragraph is underlined in my copy of the book... it resonated. I remember it shattered me, and yet also seemed to make so many things clear at the same time. Good word ;)
Sounds like another good book suggestion :) I'm currently reading your suggestion, Boundaries. Thanks for sharing!
Glad you hear that, Annie!
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