Daily Meditation: Monday, July 6, 2026

Influences - we cannot avoid being influenced, but we should choose the best ones

07/06/2026

Those who decide to disregard the experience of their elders show a misguided spirit of independence. Besides, whether they admit it or not, they cannot ignore that experience. What do novelists, poets, philosophers, musicians or painters do? They live their lives while creating works that inevitably reflect their own experience. They then bequeath their works to other human beings, who find nourishment in them. Over the centuries, a whole legacy of thoughts and sensibilities has gradually been built, which we inherit so to speak, at birth. Therefore, the reality is that we are steeped in the lives of others: their thoughts and feelings, their discoveries and wonderment, but also their mistakes and anxieties. So when we talk about being free, what exactly are we talking about? We cannot live without being influenced; the issue is to learn to be receptive to only the very best influences.