Aphoristic Writings, Notebook, and Letters to a Friend, by Otto ...

Write to me about how you are doing.
Picture postcard from Sorrento.
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Otto W.
27th August, 1903.
I would like to once more call your attention to what I wrote about Shakespeare
and Beethoven. That is, you occupy yourself with the problem of the will, which is
the same basis out of which Shakespeare wrote “Hamlet”. The will is what gives time
its direction, that is: past and future separated from each other. That is why only in
Hamlet did Shakespeare gain a sense for the meaning of life and of time . . .
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28 August, 1903
C’è qualche cosa in disordine teco! (Mi dispiace molto, ch’io non So la causa. È la
stessa, che ti proibisce di essere produttivo. Credo, che tu hai qualche cosa di un
azzardista: tu vuoi troppo come dono regalato dal destino. Tu hai messo troppo e
sperato troppo dall’amore di donne); ci vuole la solitudine più che la fuga in società
d’altrui; è bisogna, che tu pensi più su di te, con coraggio sempre e dovunque. Questo
in italiano, perchè altra gente potrebbe leggere la cartolina. 56 By the way, thank you
for your letter and the copy of the song. I left Calabria already on Monday and arrived
in Naples today. (Paestum - Salerno - Amalfi - Sorrento.)
Credi: se un uomo come tu o io non è produttivo, non si deve aspettare il
momento, che venga di nuovo, ma cercare la ragione; c’è sempre una colpa. 57
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56 “There is something awry with thee (I am very sorry not to know the cause. It is the same one which
is preventing you from being productive. I think you have something of the gambler in you: you want
too much bestowed upon you by destiny. You have invested and hoped too much in women’s love); it
is better to live in solitude than to take refuge in other people’s society; and you ought to think more
about yourself, with courage always and everywhere. I am writing this in Italian, because other people
might read the postcard. By the way, thank you for your letter and the copy of the song. I left Calabria
already on Monday and arrived in Naples today. (Paestum - Salerno - Amalfi - Sorrento.)” [Trans]
57 “Believe me: when a man like you or me stops being productive, you should not wait for it to come
back, but look for a reason. There is always a fault.” [Trans]
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