1954
XI. Tuesday
With Ernesto Sabato (an Argentine writer) in the bar Helvetico.
Besides writing, Sabato teaches philosophy privately and initiates me into his method. He says Hay que golpear (one must strike). One must tear them away from the reality to which they have become accustomed and cause them to see everything anew. Their uneasiness will force them to seek solutions and then turn to a teacher … but one has to do everything, one has to create a situation that threatens them… .
This is correct. For knowledge whatever it is worth, from the most precise mathematics to the darkest suggestions of art, is not to calm the soul but to create a state of vibration and tension in it.
– from the diary of Witold Gombrowicz
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