Arrogance of Intelligence: Goodbye Rousseau

Intellectual. Smart. Quick. Well-Read. Astute. Sharp. Intellectual acumen creates arrogance. Egoism. Separation from the other person. Impatience. Cruelty. And ... generally is not a very nice internal monologue.

This leads me why I am so thrilled to have cleared out the books ~ donated today to the local library. Since I finished school I have been dusting off Chaucer, Plato, Rousseau, Euripides, Sophocles, Piers Plowman, Boccaccio, Dante, Dickens, Shakespeare, Aristotle ~ sure that I would perhaps need them for reference, for some memory of when and where I read them. During one move, I told my husband that the books were a type of friend from school and I couldn't let them go.

Ironically enough, it was another book that helped nudge me towards this. The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up. It made me realize I am never going to open up those books again. Part of me wanted the internal bragging rights of looking over the shelves and knowing that I read them - directly tapping into that arrogance.

Adios libros, thank you for being part of my life. I hope that your next owner learns amazing things from you. I certainly did. Those learnings are inside of me and having you on the shelf for me see you and boast about internally is not going to change that.

Thank you, my sister, for the term. Learnings learnings.