I received The Supper of the Lamb, by Robert Farrar Capon, for Christmas this year. I’ve only just started, but my copy is already covered with marks. Here’s a gem:
“Amateur and nonprofessional are not synonyms. The world may or may not need another cookbook, but it needs all the lovers–amateurs–it can get. It is a gorgeous old place, full of clownish graces and beautiful drolleries, and it has enough textures, tastes, and smells to keep us intrigued for more time than we have. Unfortunately, however, our response to its loveliness is not always delight: it is, far more often than it should be, boredom. And that is not only odd, it is tragic; for boredom is not neutral–it is the fertilizing principle of unloveliness.”
This so perfectly describes what I want my life to be–a loving response to a lovely world. And it’s what I want for my students as they grow–a resistance to compartmentalization and over-professionalization, a rich and various delight in the world, many interests, many enthusiasms. May we all be amateurs!
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Photo Credit: The Amateur Cook (New York: F. A. Stokes, 1906)
Amen and amen.