Michelangelo in Ravensbruck by Karolina Lanckoronska

Author:Karolina Lanckoronska
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Da Capo Press
Published: 2011-02-01T00:00:00+00:00

but I can’t use these words here as a motto, since I cannot say that they apply to my own thoughts. Many thoughts of mine are contented. After all the immense strain of these last years, for me a period of forced meditation and concentration has now begun. Instead of work that was exclusively practical, the last possibility of effort now left to me is exclusively intellectual, for I am allowed books. From the start of this period in Lwów, I have been reading historical works: [. . .] Guglielmo Ferrero: Grandeur et décadence de Rome (4 vols). Style slightly journalistic [. . .] fluent, smooth, carefully avoiding the real problems and without psychological talent. Yet I do not regret reading Ferrero. Confronted with that multitude of events, one gains the benefit of distance, separation and peace of mind – humility in the face of history.

Renan: Marc-Aurèle; beautifully written. When I was younger I was very taken with the thinking of Marcus Aurelius. But now I find him alien to the very core of my being and I think I am not alone in that. O homme, tu as été citoyen de la grande Cité va-t-en avec un coeur paisible.13 That is simply not enough (anyway, not in my present situation).

The closing years of the XIX century – a happy period with no major conflicts – admired and even made heroes of those who despised the enjoyment of life. For us, that is too little. Marcus Aurelius, as it were, withdrew his outstandingly noble soul from life altogether. There’s something rather Indian about that. For us, that kind of virtue seems rather pale and a far cry from the kind of virtus we need so much. The wonderful word virtus combines in meaning virtue, strength, backbone and fortitude. Virtus is the basis of all action in general and consequently of that noblest of all actions, that which ethically influences our neighbours, which is to say, every action and every deed . . .

The relationship of Marcus Aurelius to his surroundings and to people in general also raises many doubts. If one passes evil by, as though it were a necessary component of every man, so that evil is not consciously visible, then one’s neighbour, in many instances, will feel himself thereby ‘excused’, that is, relieved of any obligation to go to work on his own character, in order to eradicate inherent evil. However, to stimulate his neighbour to such an effort is precisely one of the main duties of every responsible person. This objective may be attained in two ways – above all, by example – but also by making more exacting demands on oneself than on one’s neighbour and ensuring that the demands you impose on your neighbour do not exceed the measure or limits of his potential. Having time – and plenty of it – to ruminate on such problems during these months, which have perhaps been granted me for that very purpose, I shall try to concentrate

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