Luis Buñuel - Childhood in Spain

Death was ever present, as in the Middle Ages.

By contrast, the joy of living was much stronger.  The pleasures, always desired, were far more intense.  The greater the obstacles between desire and its realization, the more intense the enjoyment when they are overcome.  The same thing happens with love.  Ease turns powerful emotions into banality.  Beauty must be conquered.  In Zaragoza the schedule of concerts that the philharmonic society was preparing for the winter was passed out in October.  You had to wait for months to hear, for example, the Fifth Symphony.  How impatiently we awaited that moment, which, when if finally arrived, gave us an indescribable satisfaction, a nearly divine happiness.  Today you just have to push the button and you have music...


trns. by Garrett White


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