explainer

"When I was a young woman I found all beauty and fascination in people. I found flowers boring. I ignored them when I saw them, or turned away. I think I felt they got in the way of my understanding Kafka and Sartre. I think I also thought flowers were something old ladies do to make things prettier because they don't understand the tragedy of life. Now I think people who put flowers all over the place are the only geniuses. They know flowers are an unasked-for and essentially unearned bit of beauty given to us perhaps to suggest other, greater beauty to come. They're in Einstein-land, gardeners, and thinking of eternity. And I thought they were just retards with spades."
--Peggy Noonan

Now I detest Peggy Noonan. But she has something here in her snide disregard for people who are so different from her. Her statement reveals the lack of depth in her life and in her character. Many highly successful people seem to have about the same level of understanding about

humility
worth
art
work
physical labor
the environment
living things
other human beings
beauty
intelligence
success.

I am just that very person she calls a retard with a spade.
I freely and hopefully declare myself thus.