Arnon Grunberg

Untruthful

First day

A friend alerted me tot his article on brainpickings on Arendt and Heidegger.

Arendt in a letter to Heidegger:

"I love you as I did on the first day — you know that, and I have always known it, even before this reunion. The path you showed me is longer and more difficult than I thought. It requires a long life in its entirety. The solitude of this path is self-chosen and is the only way of living given me. But the desolation that fate has kept in store not only would have taken from me the strength to live in the world, that is, not in isolation; it also would have blocked my path, which, as it is wide and not a leap, runs through the world. Only you have a right to know this, because you have always known it. And I think that even where I finally remain silent, I will never be untruthful. I always give as much as anyone wants from me, and the path itself is nothing but the commitment our love makes me responsible for. I would lose my right to live if I lost my love for you, but I would also lose this love and its reality if I shirked the responsibility it forces on me."

Read the article here.

Love forces responsibility on us. Yes, to a certain degree. But love is also by definition an irresponsible undertaking. To be in love is to be irresponsible.

If I understand Arendt well love may be the precondition for entering the world, for knowing the world.

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