Great Conversation
Great Conversation
I felt a pang of immediate understanding when I read the following passage from Helen Keller’s Notebooks. Do you also recognize this frustration as your own?
I often think that beautiful ideas embarrass most people as much as the company of great men. They are regarded generally as far more appropriate in books and in public discourse than in the parlor or at the table. Of course I do not refer to beautiful sentiments, but to the higher truths relating to everyday life. Few people that I know seem ever to pause in their daily intercourse to wonder at the the beautiful bits of truth they have gathered during their years of study. Often, when I speak enthusiastically of something in history or in poetry, I receive no response, and I feel that I must change the subject and return to the commonest topics, such as weather, dressmaking, sports, sickness, “blues” and “worries.” To be sure, I take the keenest interest in everything that concerns those who surround me; it is this very interest which makes it so difficult for me to carry on conversation with some people who will not talk or say what they think; but I should not be sorry to find more friends ready to talk with me now and then about the wonderful things I read. We need not be like “Les Femmes Savantes” [erudite women]; but we ought to have something to say about what we learn as well as about what we must do, and what our professors say or how they mark our themes.
Photograph: Helen Keller. Unknown Source.
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HILDEGARD said...
Oh, how deeply does this resonate in my soul! When I was in college (just a short time ago), I often found that even students of profound subjects hesitated to discuss them over dinner. They seemed embarrassed to have entertained a profound thought throughout the day, as though it would be audacious to assert their thoughts to the others around them.
There were kindred spirits, however, who could spend hours over supper discussing the nature of infinite numbers—mathematicians or not. Those friendships are to be nurtured and protected more ardently than gold itself.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008 01:09 PM
HANDMAIDEN said...
I have a dear friend with whom I feel comfortable to discuss any “high” subject. Shortly before she was married, we talked on the phone about a variety of subjects, especially the “theology of marriage.” I remember that, when I finally hung up the phone—after nearly an hour of conversation—I went about the house thinking how wonderful it was to speak seriously and frankly (and with mutual joy!) with someone. It was deeply satisfying.
I am glad that I can speak to my siblings about anything I’ve learned or that interests me—and they do the same. It is not unusual to find us discussing political science (very often!), a new or unusual historic fact gleaned from our textbooks, music, culture, literature, theology, or even a bit of economics (Mark Twain’s A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court is usually the springboard for that). And, yes, we do have time for lots of “chit-chat,” too. :-)
Thank you for sharing, Hildegard!
Tuesday, April 15, 2008 03:57 PM
Friday, April 11, 2008