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By John Steinbeck Submitted by Mark McNabb Date: 2002 Jan 29 Comment on this Work [[2002.01.29.08.48.9266]] |
| The flame of conception seems to flare and go out, leaving a man shaken, and at once happy and afraid. Everyone knows about Newton's Apple. Charles Darwin said his ORIGIN OF THE SPECIES flashed complete in one second, and he spent the rest of his life backing it up; and the Theory of Relativity occurred to Einstein in the time it takes to clap your hands. This is the greatest mystery of the human mind - the inductive leap, everything falls into place. Irrelevancies relate, dissonances become harmony, and nonsense wears a crown of meaning. But the clarifying leap springs from the rich soil of confusion and the leaper is not unfamiliar with pain. |