journal011205

What does "intelligence" mean? Is every creation an act of
destruction? You see, I'm so much beyond most of the human race it's
hard for me to even comprehend what their intelligentsia is talking
about. Things like "intelligence," "democracy," "freedom,"
"creation," "destruction;" They are all just words. They're too
imprecise for me to take seriously. Creation might describe what an all
powerful God did when he brought Adam into being, if that ever
happened. But aside from that, such a general word has no use. Our
language is so primitive! Sure, a genius like Shakespeare can twist it
now and again into profundity. But I'm reading Richard III right now
for a class and, to put the matter bluntly, it is not worth reading.
It's corny, hoky, dumb. You can see what's coming a mile away; there
are no deep issues, save in an isolated speech or two. And what does
"deep" mean? It's pretty much a word this populace uses to separate
worthiness from itself, which is a worthy gesture. I remember this girl
Sarah Rogers, who was the daughter of a local ranch family. When we
were kids, she told me that they were poor in money but rich in God.
They were always pretty friendly to me. They had some annoying dogs.
Her father was a hulk of a man; he could run construction machines and
that was their real livelihood. Tommorow, I will wake up with a
hangover, make myself a cup of coffee, and go to Shakespeare class with
a man who knows far more about Shakespeare than I do but does not love
him! You see, "know" is also an imprecise word. I know Shakespeare in a
different sense, a sense in which he is of great importance. A million
Richard IIIs or Comedy of Errors mean nothing next to one Hamlet. Oh,
but it takes such passion to understand.