[April 1979]

Philosophical discussion in Edessa became suppressed and then disappeared, but re-emerged in a peculiar way because the Christian religion was carried to Damascus in terms of the Greek language. The Greek method of communication survived, and as a result there also survived with it the Greek way of thought; then, via Syria and Damascus, it came back to Greece. Art offers substitutive satisfactions for the oldest and still most deeply felt cultural renunciations, and for that reason it serves as nothing else does to reconcile a man to-the sacrifices he has made on behalf of civilization. The creations of art heighten the feelings of identification, of which every cultural unit stands in so much need, by providing an occasion for sharing highly valued emotional experiences.