One common assumption has been that ambition, aim, or intention is psychologically sufficient: that if I regularly tumble over a stick held three feet in the air, I am as much of a vaulters mind as a vaulter; that if I am in agony over the smudges on my canvas, my agony is as Rothkos or Cezannes; that if I am struggling to compose a be-my-Valentine, I am as angry and frustrated as Hart Crane was when he hurled his Underwood out a window because it refused to write in Spanish; but if Im displacing the bar at three feet, its clear that I havent encountered the vaulters peculiar difficulties yet, and if I am fudging my tax returns, I havent suddenly entered the world of mathematical invention like a Dorothy dropped in Oz. Poker for peanuts or pennies is not the same game as one with limitless stakes, and there are certain driving skills which only come into play at high speeds; so that even if theres a resemblance between walking a fallen log and crossing a piece of structural steel amidst worries of work, wind, and altitude, the achievements are in no way the same, although, again, exhortations like careful to keep your balance are in both cases appropriate and certainly appreciated. -- William H. Gass
Posted on: Wed, 01 Oct 2014 21:14:23 +0000
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