Walking through the Glebe on my way back from Mass this morning, I passed a woman wearing a T-shirt that read, "Respect your mother." Underneath this slogan was a picture of the earth.
How did this ridiculous and primitive (in the worst sense of the word) idea get back into our culture. I thought the same thing the other day reading that someone is taking a chip from Newton's apple tree out into space. When did science become a superstitious cult? And when did people start thinking that a hunk of rocks, liquids and gases hurtling through space was their 'mother'?
And when did we turn into a bunch of foolish children?
There's a bit from Leopardi where Nature personified speaks: You need to understand that in my works, in my ordinances, and in my operations, with very few exceptions, I always had and still have in mind something other that the happiness or unhappiness of men. When I hurt you in any way or by any means, I am not aware of it, except very seldom; just as, usually, if I please you or benefit you, I do not know of it; and I have not, as you believe, made certain things, nor do I do certain actions, to please you or to help you. And finally, even if I managed to exterminate your whole race, I would not even know it.
ReplyDeleteThat's good. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteNow I'm going to have to read Leopardi. I have to admit that the sum total of my knowledge of him before reading your comment was the reference to him in Amarcord. (Which suddenly makes a lot more sense in light of the bit you quote here.)
For Leopardi, I recommend the JG Nichols Translation that includes the prose. My copy with the title Canti is from Oneworld Classics.
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