I’m reading Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s fabulous The Little Prince but in Spanish. The language is so so wonderful!
Las personas mayores aman las cifras. Cuando les habláis de un nuevo amigo, no os interrogan jamás sobre lo esencial. Jamás os dicen: <<¿Cómo es el timbre de su vox? ¿Cuáles son los juegos que prefiere? ¿Coleciona mariposas?>> En cambio, os preguntan: <<¿Qué edad tiene? Cuántos hermanos tiene? ¿Cuánto pesa? ¿Cuánto gana su padre?>> Sólo entonces creen conocerle. Si decís a las personas mayores: <<He visto una hermosa casa de ladrillos rojos con geranios en las ventanas y palomas en el techo…>>, no acertarán a imaginarse la casa. Es necesario decirles: <<He visto una casa de cien mil francos>>. Entonces exclaman: <<¡Qué hermosa es!>>
My very loose translation:
Adults love data and figures. If you all asked them about a new friend, you’d never be able to question them about the essential things. Neither would you be able to ask them: What is the timbre of their voice like? What games do they prefer? Do they collect butterflies?
Instead, you all would have to ask: What’s their age? How many siblings do they have? How much do they weigh? How much money does their father make? That’s all the adults believe is important to know.
If you all told an adult: I have seen a beautiful house with red bricks and geraniums in the window and doves on the roof … . No! They would certainly not be able to imagine that place! Instead, it’s necessary to say: I have visited a house worth 100 thousand francs. Only then would they exclaim: How beautiful!
The book is capturing so well for me the struggle I’ve had my whole life—of art vs entrepreneurship, of business vs creativity, of spontaneity vs. value.
Ultimately, an artist isn’t someone who just know their craft. They are someone who has trained to look at the world in a unique way, and to remind others that that perspective exists.