the danger of wisdom
The danger of wisdom Jack Gilbert (1925-2012) We learn to live without passion. To be reasonable. We go hungry amid the giant granaries this world is. We store up plenty for when we are old and mild. It is our strength that deprives us. Like Keats listening to the doctor who said the best thing for tuberculosis was to eat only one slice of bread and a fragment of fish each day. Keats starved himself to death because he yearned so desperately to feast on Fanny Brawne. Emerson and his wife decided to make love sparingly in order to accumulate his passion. We are taught to be moderate. To live intelligently. “The heart lies to itself because it must.” ...