Steinberg's periodic depressions got worse as he got older. The often verbalized concern that if an artist gets treatment he/she might lose their internal artistic resources did not prevent Steinberg from using modern medicine, even electro-shock therapy. We must not minimize, nor compartmentalize, the pain another feels. We also cannot expect any other to appreciate the power of focusing on a certain mental edge, which is a description of a brand old mental discipline. Only the clueless would adopt a more persistent than thou attitude on these issues. The seemingly similar random confluence of events could as well lead one to persevere, as falter. Still, such a discipline, when practiced, protects as well as vivifies.
I like to remember that Henri Cartier-Bresson photographed Saul Steinberg with a cat.
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