The Renaissance was a time of reevaluation of philosophical and theological teachings in various forms and the results at times were interesting and strange.  On the Dignity of Man contains three treatises by Giovanni Pico della Mirandola including the titular treatise has been called the “manifesto of the Renaissance”.

The “Oration on the Dignity of Man” is Pico’s justification of the importance of the human quest for knowledge within a Neoplatonic frame as well as an introduction to his unpublished 900 thesis in which he believed provided complete and sufficient basis for the discovery of all knowledge.  The second treatise, “On Being and the One”, is an attempted reconciliation between Platonic and Aristotelian writings on the relative place of being and “the one” and a refutation of opposing arguments.  The finale treatise, “Heptaplus”, is a mystic-allegorical exposition of the creation according to the seven Biblical senses, elaborates on his idea that different religions and traditions describe the same God.

The titular treatise of this collection is the best of the bunch as Pico is eloquent in his thoughts, justifications, and introducing his thesis.  The other two treatise are a combination of Christian, pagan philosophy, and Jewish thought which ultimate stretches credibility even though Pico tries his best to bring forth his ideas.  However even thought I’m not truly well read in Plato and Aristotle, even I know they do not agree while Pico tries his best to make them agree.  Pico’s belief that all other traditions and religions were pale imitations of future Christianity and thus worthy to be combined with Scripture to bring forth quasi-theological ideas like St. Augustine.

On the Dignity of Man is a collection of treatise by Giovanni Pico in which the titular treatise is the best of the bunch while the other two are well written but utterly worthless due to Pico’s thinking.

Elias Rukla teaches Norwegian literature in a secondary school in Oslo. Over the years his students' attitude toward his classes has changed from bored to hostile. One day during a lecture on Ibsen's The Wild Duck one of his students lets out an exaggerated sigh and it shakes Rukla to his core. Later that day when he cannot get his umbrella to open he starts beating it against the fountain in the school's courtyard in a fit of frustration. When he realizes a group of students is staring at him he turns on them swing his broken umbrella and shouting insults. Rukla spends the rest of the novel wandering around Oslo trying to figure out how he will explain to his wife that he probably just threw away a 25 year teaching career in a moment of anger.

Except for the scene I described above, the novel takes place entirely in the head of the main character. Elias is a middle aged man who knows that the thing he values most in life, the study of literature, is regarded as a waste of time by his students. He justifies his classes by his belief that although the teenagers may not be able to appreciate literature now they will appreciate their Norwegian cultural heritage once they become adults. The truth is Elias is kind of afraid of his students and suspects they no longer have any context for appreciating Ibsen.

I must admit I kind of lost interest in the book as Elias wanders around reminiscing about his college days and his estranged best friend. The novel is very much a character study, but I was more interested in the character's situation than the character himself. As the title implies, Elias is a deeply reserved and introverted man who wants to maintain his dignity and pride but sees it all slipping away from him. If you chose to read a Dag Solstad novel you can probably relate to the feeling.

In the third story, ‘The sacrifice’, the strain on the grandfather and the grandson tugged at my heart, kept me on the edge with hope till the end, and rewarded me with liberation and uplifting. This is my favorite one !!!!"

What happened Friday night in Paris was about to send me into a severe depression, but I recalled how I’ve decided to take charge of my emotions, by reading optimistic & constructive books. So, Saturday morning I started to read this book again, and, within an hour, it lifted my spirit.

A quote from this book that fits well to the disaster in Paris, and has given me the strength to see the event in a different light:

'Emergencies send sparks to the darkest corners of us. They wake up our hormones and neurotransmitters. They remove the rust from our body and mind, and they show us we can still handle crises with poise.

Emergencies push us to our limits. At those limits, the best inside us comes out. The eyes of our mind open, exceptional vision occurs to us, and we have a chance to become extraordinary.'

That's what is amazing about the eternal and universal wisdoms contained in such constructive books: they fundamentally change our perspective on life, so we become autonomous to take charge of our emotions, and move on by taking proactive actions.