"I am not one who was born in the custody of wisdom. I am one who is fond of olden times and intense in quest of the sacred knowing of the ancients." Gustave Courbet

15 December 2018

Transcendent.

It must be the case, that when describing the our cultural inheritance, we're not just describing something that's gone.  We must be describing something of which we are still a part, and which has to change as we are changing, to accommodate us.

All this was said by Eliot, that the artist must be constantly trying to say that new thing that he came into the world to say.  But he can only say it if he adapts his style to the inheritance of the tradition, thereby transforming the tradition and transforming himself.  There is no formula for doing this, because the formula is precisely what destroy the creative act.  We have to assume that new things will come and they will come through us as they always did in the past, through fasting and prayer ... and an occasional glass of wine.

Apprehending the Transcendent, a discussion between Roger Scruton and Jordan Peterson ...

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