Topic: Famous eccentrics... | |
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I see four out of the five you cite has highly accomplished, whereas Henry was simply born into self-indulgence as King of England has it entered its own. "Eccentric" is a word that can be deemed negative, but has a certain patronizing tone. Any Beat could be called that back in the 50s but might be conservative by today's definitions, a love of jazz or Eastern disciplines back in the day of conformity. So it is all relative, isn't it? If Emily Dickinson never left the house or Henry David Thoreau built a shack out in the woods, they would be dismissed, if they were not two of the most original geniuses that nation has produced. Gandhi would be eccentric out of context, would he not, advocating nonviolence before his time? But he was an attorney, quite worldly and sophisticated, far more than the conventionals who might have dismissed him as a demagogue or nutcase. The four you cite all lost it in the end, much as did Citizen Kane or King Lear. Because of great wealth, they took the self-indulgence of the artist and drove it to their undoing. We all tend to unwind if we live long enough, as we give up on pleasing others -- or as the brain goes. I think the word is parochial, basically, since in the final analysis a life that influences others for the better is well-lived in the altruistic sense. It takes individuals to shift the crowd. I do not agree with you Eccentric is a type of polite non conformist or polite rebellious person and not mentally ill. Albert Einstein for example He has been called everything in the history except mentally ill |
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Spike Milligan He needs an entire thread to himself. A Wonderful man I met him back in 1986 He was one of the most profound thinkers in all of British Isles His fresh fruit song is hilarious and how can a person like that be classed by some as mentally Ill http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-IU-NQ8c14 |
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