82458, I think you're expanding on the van Gogh example
Posted by blaksilence, Sat Oct-17-09 01:30 PM
without realizing that my whole statement was:
>i'm into biographies. i know that the majority
>of the artists we consider great were either mentally unstable and/or suffered immensely.
If you look at that, you'll see that when I ask 'can we have one without the other?'
I mean greatness without suffering. (Mental illness being a form of suffering.)
And it was largely a rhetorical question.
You said:
> Nor do you have to suffer in order to be great. There are a lot of
>ppl who suffer who are not great.
This is true.
But I ask you to name one 'great' person
who has not suffered?
Just one. Give me an example.
(And although your grandmother may be quite the great person, for the sake of confirmation, try to name a recognizable figure in society.)
Remember, I said mentally ill and/or suffered immensely.
I think you forget to remember that struggle and suffer are synonyms, slightly distant ones, perhaps, but synonyms.
I won't address the Egyptology / Black Panther / Garveyist cant to your whole reply because I don't believe that a person who adores self knowledge
(as I do and as you appear to) could honestly believe that mental attributes can belong only to one culture...
like we aren't all humans before we are a culture/color...
like there isn't a such thing as genderless, colorless greatness...
across the board genius and sanity...
like the flaws you addressed aren't individual based rather than things belonging to some
large collection of people connected mostly by physical likenesses.
European or Afrikan,(God, Heru, Black Man, whatever you choose to call yourself,) we're all human. Just because ancient whites (and some modern)
chose (choose) to ignore this fact doesn't mean we should be so ignorant.
Surprising as it may seem, though culturally different, our ideas of sanity and genius are all relatively the same.
A man with shit on his head is a man with shit on his head.
A Chinua Achebe is a Chinua Achebe.
European or Afrikan.
....................
pardon my taking so long with this reply
busy sht.
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