Help tracking down a Tolstoy quote
Tom Dolack
dolack_thomas at WHEATONCOLLEGE.EDU
Tue Jun 1 01:06:56 UTC 2010
Dear all:
A friend is currently translating some of Shklovsky from Italian
(interviews) and I've been doing my best to help with references. This
Tolstoy reference, however, has me stumped (although it wouldn't be the
first time a quote got mangled by him, which only complicates matters).
Both of us would greatly appreciate any help in tracking this down.
Here is the full quote in my rough translation:
You see, they say that scientists sometimes play this game: forget the
verisimilar, everything is possible, do not be afraid to invent. Bohr, I
think it was him, once said of an idea: it's not crazy enough to be
true. And the old Tolstoy said that the reasonable is poor, whereas
everything crazy is fertile and fruitful. In art this absolute freedom
is dispensable, freedom without support, without outside help. For
example, opera was once supported, we now have the Bolshoi Theater,
which, but of course, we all love and respect, but ... But we were
talking about the Serapion Brothers, no?
And the original Italian:
Vede, dicono che gli scienziati a volte facciano questo gioco:
dimenticare il verosimile, tutto è possibile, non aver paura di
inventare. Bohr, mi sembra proprio che sia stato lui, disse una volta di
un’idea: non è abbastanza folle per essere vera. E il vecchio Tolstoj
diceva che il ragionevole è meschino, mentre tutto ciò che è folle è
fertile e fecondo. In arte è dispensabile questa assoluta libertà,
libertà senza sostegno, senza aiuto dall’esterno. Per esempio l’opera,
un tempo, era sostenuta, noi oggi abbiamo il teatro Bol’soj che, per
carità, noi tutti amiamo e rispettiamo, ma… Ma stavamo parlando dei
Fratelli di Serapione, vero?
Any ideas on where this "everything crazy is fertile" idea comes from?
We both thank you in advance!
Tom Dolack
Wheaton College
dolack_thomas at wheatonma.edu
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