Quotable

The following from an essay by Eric G. Wilson, professor of English at Wake Forest University and author of Against Happiness: In Praise of Melancholy.

Melancholia, far from error or defect, is an almost miraculous invitation to rise above the contented status quo and imagine untapped possibilities. We need sorrow, constant and robust, to make us human, alive, sensitive to the sweet rhythms of growth and decay, death and life.

(Our thanks to the always indispensable Arts & Letters Daily for the link to the essay.)