stoner

pg. 292

rating: 4/5

“it’s the love of the thing that’s essential. and if you love something, you’re going to understand it. and if you understand it, you’re going to learn a lot.” (williams, p.xiv)

truly such an elegiac book. there is something profoundly moving about the idea that love precedes understanding. that we seek to understand something not to master it but simply because we care. to love something is to remain attentive and curious, even when there is nothing tangible to be gained. not everything we devote ourselves to needs to amount to something nor does its worth have to be measured by what it produces. i think there is a tenderness in the thought that we don't always need to justify why we love what we love. the fact that something continues to move us, even in ways we cannot quite articulate, is reason enough.