Monday, October 22, 2007

How I discovered Baruch Spinoza

Last week in the Métro I saw this man sitting on one of the STRAPONTINs - these are the flexible seats that you shouldn't use in rush-hour.


He was sitting there, reading SPINOZA. I never read anything from Spinoza but I know that he was a Philosopher. It must be difficult to read philosophy in the Métro, no? Anyway, above this man's head was a big advertisement saying: BECOME STINGY!



What a world!

"Spinoza lived quietly as a lens grinder, turning down rewards and honours throughout his life, including prestigious teaching positions, and gave his family inheritance to his sister. Spinoza's moral character and philosophical accomplishments prompted 20th century philosopher Gilles Deleuze to name him "The absolute philosopher" (Deleuze, 1990). Spinoza died in February 1677 of a lung illness, perhaps tuberculosis, or silicoeis caused by fine glass dust inhaled while tending to his trade."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baruch_Spinoza

15 comments:

Ursula Achten said...

Hi Andrea,

merci pour visiter mon blog! Alors, c'est formidable...une femme allemande, qui vive en France et on parle Anglais...;)

Concerning your post on concentration: my yoga teacher tries to tell as over and over again that it's just training which enables you to concentrate whereever you are...You have to form th inner space, not the outer space...(I'm not able to say this in French any more....)

Greetings from Germany!!

sukipoet said...

Hey andrea. Can you find this Spinoza reader guY. He looks very sexy and I'm guyless at the moment. Or is the guileless.?? :)

Ps if you find him tell him I used to read a lot of philosophers too.

Unknown said...

Thank you Uschi, : form the inner space, not the outer space. In fact, this is something to meditate over...
I had a "french blog" before, but a lot of my friends do not understand french, so I closed it:) And opened this one, in english, it opens doors to the world,
Andrea

Unknown said...

Hey Suki, you make me laugh! I must admit that he really looked good and that is what draw my eyes on him in the first place...:)
I'll try to find him for you (which may be like searching for the Graal), we'll find out about guileless later...

Cris, Artist in Oregon said...

I get my giggles reading these posts sometimes. ;-)I liked the drawing too by the way.. but it is to early to be into philosophers yet. ;)
Thanks for you nice comments on my blog. I posted a drawing this morning I did of my Dad for today. It's below the Stuffed and real post.

Lynn Cohen said...

Andrea your posts and drawings always give so much to think about.
They are DEEP. The little girl face in the wrap is sweet looking, but I wonder if she becomes warm enough? The block face too is HEAVY, as a block would be...not sure what this one evokes, will have to ponder it longer. And the last one, the man on the bus reading Spinoza, wow. Great sketch you were able to do on the train...evocative also, your wondering about his thinking/reading material. And I liked that you wrote a blurb about the philosophers' life. This makes the sign above the guys head even more meaningful. Opposite to the beliefs and actions of Spinoza. Interesting all of it. Says a lot about how you think. I think. ;-)

Lynn Cohen said...

I have no doubt you can find the guy again, but how do you send him to Cape Cod? Will he want to go?
Does he have time? Or will Suki come there? As the World spins.
Stay tuned...

patti said...

I enjoy your experiences on the metro very much. I've never heard of Spinoza, but yes philosophy is heavy reading for the metro. Interesting - 'become stingy' versus Spinoza. Liked the Spinoza quote in your side-bar too.

Lynn Cohen said...

PPS: Baruch in Hebrew means Blesseded.

Unknown said...

I like the name, Baruch Spinoza,
the Blesseded - there are lots of wise things he said, these days you can find everything in the Net. Don't know if that is good or not, because we often only get glimpses of things, short-cut-insights. Without every going into the details...

Elizabeth said...

Hey Blogger the dating agency! I like it! ;-)
Fantastic sketch Andrea, I really like it. Good things to think about too. Thank you! So glad you turned your blog into an English one, so very glad :-)

Elizabeth said...

Hey Blogger the dating agency! I like it! ;-)
Fantastic sketch Andrea, I really like it. Good things to think about too. Thank you! So glad you turned your blog into an English one, so very glad :-)

Unknown said...

Many readers about Spinoza run on subway...

Anonymous said...

Spinoza also claimed that living without science and art makes it impossible to reach beatitude.

Nice blog.

Anonymous said...

That's where started the metroportraits?