That music goes great with the reading of this thread.
Down and dirty link:
Lovecraft Rising: Tracing the Growth of Scholarship on Howard Phillips Lovecraft, 1990-2004There is something bitterly heroic about having the courage and audacity to openly display superior sensibilities while struggling to maintain a speck of dignity as a human animal "included in" but hardly "belonging to" society, that is, to be mystified and brutally mocked by economic realities while "keeping one's head together" --- such seems to be the fate of those who possess qualities you personally find HEROIC.
Do you find you are forgiving toward Schopenhauer for his financial advantages? I rather feel sorry for poor Friedrich, witnessing the delight in the ice-cold laughter of those who mock such "nervous wrecks" as these. Maybe Schopenhauer had a little more composure and equanimity due to MONEY IN THE BANK. Ouch. It pains me to acknowledge that Arthur-in-and-of-himself, without father Heinrich's suicide and inheritance, may have always been quite the nervous wreck, if not totally Van Gogh, Artaud style institutionalization in a psychiatric ward (insane asylum).
Money in the bank lends a great amount of independence, even from the tyrannical hostility his own mother bombarded him with.
This is why I affectionately refer to Arthur Schopenhauer as the Buddha of Berlin, since Prince Siddhartha was also born into "the aristocracy" ---- but the Buddha supposedly became a penniless wanderer. Such a life, as it was actually lived, must be filled with contradictions. And yet, Heinrich Schopenhauer was a merchant (international business dealer), not exactly Royalty, if you get my drift. Schopenhauer spread that inheritance to last his lifetime and still donated it to soldiers wounded in battle (like a community home). That is, he was no, what's his name? from DEAD MAN, Johnny Depp. No. He probably lived quite a humble life in comparison to the Philistines the world over who lead "normal" "middle class" lives ....
I, for one, am indebted to him for devoting his life to such a serious matter as the very riddle of our existence. To me, yes, there is no doubt in my mind that Schopenhauer is a hero to me. I am impressed mostly with his defiance, although as stated, his "financial advantages" must have fueled his confidence; whereas this Howard Phillips was plagued by insecurities having to do not just with his relative poverty.
You may not share your society's definitions of heroic. You are correct in your assessment of where I stand when it comes to crazy Uncle Friedrich. I agree with Cioran when he says that Nietzsche gives the impression of a boy whistling in the dark to diminish his fears. Otherwise, considering his humble and solitary way of life, I would of course find Nietzsche to have lived a far more heroic life than most of the false heroes of contemporary society with the goofy celebrity culture, sports, gambling, automobiles, and the gun-toting foot-soldiers of whoever pins medals of honor on them.
There is no doubt about it, my friend. Our heroes were freaks.
I have been getting a close look at most individual human animals. We're all freaks; and the more the global media outlets display their ideal prototypes, the less the masses are able to meet the expectations of the thoughtless, demanding, arrogant "owners" and "rulers," and Human Resources gorts-in-charge.
It is one thing to imagine HP Lovecraft putting on a uniform to stock shelves on the night shift at a local grocery store. Creepy? Well, he's tall. "We can use tall people like that." (says management)
Depending on his co-workers, he would be leaning toward suicide or nervous collapse just having to endure what the [poor] workers have to get through each day. Some people can't deal with the degradation, and they sob in public, or they repress that impulse. Most must do exactly that. Emotional time bombs everywhere!
Now imagine Schopenhauer cleaning toilets in a public restroom.
Ego deflating social position.
But I must have learned something during my life to make such manual labor not at all shameful, but a kind of spiritual exercise, the kind religious monks in the mountains of India might find some kind of Mojo.
Sometimes I find myself envying the eccentric (mentally ill) relatives of the wealthy who get to live in a little shack in the backyard. Ah ... to follow one's bliss with the support of a "wealthy family."
You see how tricky this is, this "dignity" thing, this idea of the heroic?
Maybe the concept of hero is not even appropriate. Maybe we just find such peculiar men to give us the courage to face our own "weirdness."
I wonder what Frances Cress Welsing thought of Lovecraft. He would have made a great specimen for her to validate her theories ... about the fears and insecurities awakened in a man such as Lovecraft should he find himslef in the midst of nearly any city on the planet.
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