Prodigies

[NOTE: It is December 12 as I type this, but I wrote the note to myself in June so I am going to back-date the post correspondingly.]

What do prodigies do?

All the elementary stuff is so easy for them that they never settle down; they never develop the discipline of a single craft; by the time they reach middle age they are forgotten and anonymous, eating the wrong things and drinking too much and there is nothing left of their talent.

Oh good! It’s great to know I count as a prodigy! Hey ... I heard somewhere that failure is freedom. Right?

Sure. We can go with that. Failure is freedom. So is homelessness. On that scale, have you considered there might be something to be said for slavery?

Isn’t it nice, though, to have been smart and capable once upon a time?

Sure. Isn’t it nice to have memories?