We die to each other daily.
What we know of other people
Is only our memory of the moments
During which we knew them.
And they have changed since then.
To pretend that they and we are the same
Is a useful and convenient social convention
Which must sometimes be broken.
We must also remember
That at every meeting we are meeting a stranger.
T. S. Eliot, The Cocktail Party (1949)
Beautiful- Another favorite from Eliot:
ReplyDeleteWe shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.
T.S. Eliot -- "Little Gidding" (the last of his Four Quartets)
Yes, indeed. Thanks for all your comments, contributions, and appreciation. Didn't really think that anyone would want to read all this. I was just trying to store the best of my reading before it's all wiped out by a failing memory. As the young man in Coetzee's 'Youth' wonders - is the life of the mind its own reward?
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