A Genius, a Sage, and a Snob… At once, I understood him.
The entirety of his known painterly philosophy amounts to six words: “to produce [the greatest and most natural movement]”—a phrase whose precise meaning remains hotly contested to this day.
There is a point of knowledge where, to even have the most basic of conversations, the Sage is left with two choices: “Do I educate the person I am talking to and try to simplify 30+ years of Philosophy into 5 minutes just so we might have a basic conversation, or do I say nothing?”
You choose to say nothing.
When you know so much, you gain the Metric with which to measure Knowledge. You know then *how* to measure Knowledge because you know so much and also so little.
You learn how to measure Knowledge, Intelligence, Greatness, and Wisdom. And so you measure yours, others, everyone’s. And then you know.
When you know more than 1,000 people, and none of them can understand what you know… then you know. When all of them revere your knowledge… then you know.
When the Geniuses call you genius… then you know.
When you are *that* good at something, it becomes a Fact like dry sand or wet water. It is healthy to know your own Value when you are *that* good.
When you are *that* wise, you how healthy it is for you to know that you are good, and that it does not harm anyone for you to know it… nor is it anyone else’s business.
And then comes the looks of shock and then fear. Then comes the looks of terror. And then hatred. So you get quiet. Real quiet. You become bitter, and then you turn inward. That is when you return to The Observer and The Student.
And then you become silent. There is a period where you debate, “Do I share my knowledge? Or do I remain silent?”
And in the 1600’s that kind of Genius lands you in the Asylums. You stay quiet. Opening your mouth in the wrong crowd is a death sentence. It does not take much for others to hear the Genius or Sage to know, “They are smart… dangerously smart…” And that scares them.
But it does cause you harm to not acknowledge and claim your own skills and take pride in them. You know it in the loneliness. The loneliness speaks for itself.
You also know that people who compare themselves to others do so out of their own insecurity. And then, when they feel threatened at their own lack of Mastery, they label the Master a “snob” instead of focusing on their own Skill Building.
So Genius? Yes. Rembrandt was.
Sage? Yes. Absolutely.
Thus, he knew 6 words were more than enough. Because when you are that wise, you are also that lonely and that frustrated that no one can understand you. And you try to find peace with it until you do.
Snob? That is always a reflection and the Mirrored Image of The Accuser.
Rembrandt required a working knowledge of Anatomy and Science to pull this piece off. He was not just a painter.
Aristotle with a bust of Homer. Rembrandt was a Philosopher who took a great passion in the Epic Poetry of Ancient Greece.
Rembrandt was an Ashavana, trapped by the limitations of the Minds of the 17th Century. Yes. You say not a word.