Sifting through 49-year-old correspondence, I come across a little book entitled "Tact" stapled to a memo. Inside the booklet is a little piece of paper with a phrase on it, kind of like the ones you find in a fortune cookie. It says, "Men, like bullets, go farthest when they are smoothest." Curious as to where the quote originated I did a search and found that it came from a German Romantic writer by the name of Jean Paul (Johann Paul Friedrich Richter). But ultimately it led me to another one of his quotes: "Too much trust is a foolishness, too much distrust a tragedy." Now most anyone would agree with that statement and find it rather obvious, but to me it's a sign. I have this tragic tendency to go against my own nature; I do it ALL THE TIME. I can give you all kinds of examples, but the most current desire I have is to close the book entitled "Pablo". My thoughts and intentions want to hide. Realistically speaking I can't close it, but yes, maybe I can hide it.
A tome upon an earthen alter, in some cavern beneath the ground where shallow waters cover the surface, gathers no dust from the slowly cracking ceiling, never molds from the rising vapors, but nevertheless the book is open, since it will always BE open. But now it's hard to find, hidden in some cavern beneath the ground. Time does not eat away at its pages, though human eyes could burn through its paper. What a paradox that a book is made to be read but for this book to be read means that it will perish! Might the wind find its way through the earth's cavities to turn the pages, since no hand is there to do the job? Yet a book that goes missing, whose unread words become legend, inspire curiosity, ambitious desire and perhaps even greater emotions, does more to change the world than any book that has been read a million times over, closed and forgotten on the coffee table.
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