2010/10/07 New York
Loyalty
Ties
A quote from an essay by George Steiner on the German literary scholar Hans Mayer: “Mayer notes with admiring reproof how often this unhoused genius [Heinrich Heine] made of literary style his sole loyalty, how often he wounded others because he himself had learned to move without ties.”
There is something admirable about moving without ties.
In the great movie “Heat” by Michael Mann the gangster Neil McCauley (Robert de Niro) makes the case for moving without ties.
In the end McCauley goes down because he forgot his most important lesson: move without ties.
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6 comments 
I think nowadays there is something admirable about moving with ties, although this makes moving a lot more difficult!
admirable
There's a word for moving without ties: being selfish. What's admirable about it?Ties
Living (and moving) without ties is a horrible floating in the void.Maybe living and moving around with a good elastic cord is a better option.
Hordijk
Why would you call this moving without ties 'egoism'?To live with ties can be labeled as 'egoistic' to the same level.
One can stil do something for the other when all transactions are 'business'. Sure, money is involved, but in the case of altruism there's an implicit token as well.
Admirable, being a coward, being brave, egoism, altruism, it can all be applied on moving with ties or without. There can be something admirable moving without ties indeed, probably only though when one has problems doing so. If you really like it fully and do not miss a thing then the admiration will not be, well, sort of applicable or necessary anymore? We admire a person who can do this because we can not?
wound
I agree that moving without ties doesn't have to involve selfishness. However:' how often he wounded others because he himself had learned to move without ties.'
That sounds pretty selfish to me.
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