One must have great feelings ( 07 May 2006 Sun )

One Must Have Great FeelingsIn the modern world where there are so many problems, one is apt to lose greatfeeling. I mean by that word feeling, not sentiment, not emotionalism, not mereexcitement, but that quality of perception, the quality of hearing, listening, thequality of feeling, a bird singing on a tree, the movement of a leaf in the sun. Tofeel things greatly, deeply, penetratingly, is very difficult for most of us becausewe have so many problems. Whatever we seem to touch turns into a problem. And,apparently, there is no end to man's problems, and he seems utterly incapable ofresolving them because the more the problems exist, the less the feelings become.I mean by "feeling" the appreciation of the curve of a branch, the squalor, the dirton the road, to be sensitive to the sorrow of another, to be in a state of ecstasywhen we see a sunset. These are not sentiments, these are not mere emotions. Emotionand sentiment or sentimentality turn to cruelty, they can be used by society; andwhen there is sentiment, sensation, then one becomes a slave to society. But onemust have great feelings. The feeling for beauty, the feeling for a word, thesilence between two words, and the hearing of a sound clearly—all that generatesfeeling. And one must have strong feelings, because it is only the feelings thatmake the mind highly sensitive.