The war of the words (12/7/94)
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Wittgenstein was always exhausted by his lectures. He was also revolted by them. He felt disgusted with what he had said and with himself. Often he would rush off to a cinema immediately after the class ended. ... He insisted on sitting in the very first row of seats, so that the screen would occupy his entire field of vision, and his mind would be turned away from the thoughts of the lecture and his feelings of revulsion. ... His observation of the film was not relaxed or detached. He leaned forward tensely in his seat and rarely took his eyes off the screen. ... He wished to become totally absorbed in the film no matter how trivial or artificial it was, in order to free his mind from the philosophical thoughts that tortured and exhausted him.
[Norman Malcolm:
Ludwig Wittgenstein. A Memoir.]
____________Art and life (8/25/94)
