craig james hildebrand, THE QUALITY OF HAVING IT
------------------------------------------------------------------
"[Quintessence] is a book about things, things that offer
more to us than we specifically ask of them... What the
various things in this book have in common - whether candy or
cars, cigarettes or shoes, baseball bats or blimps - is the
quality of quintessence."
Betty Cornfeld & Owen Edwards
Quintessence: The Quality of Having It.
Crown Publishers, 1983.
quin·tes·sence (kwin-tes'ens) n. 1. The pure, highly
concentrated essence of a thing. 2. The purest or most
typical instance: the quintessence of evil. 3. In ancient
and medieval philosophy, the fifth and highest essence after
the four elements of earth, air, fire, and water, thought to
be the substance of the heavenly bodies and latent in all
things.
The American Heritage Dictionary; Third Edition
1. Chaise-longue; wooden pipe; crackling fire
BETTY
English bull terriers, darling.
Darling?
OWEN
Yes, dear.
BETTY
Do you suppose that English bull
terriers have It?
OWEN
It's hard to say. There are only
so many things an English bull
terrier can have, one would find it
difficult to also have It.
BETTY
But they are highly concentrated,
wouldn't you say? Darling?
OWEN
Now, dear, I think you're being a
little loose on your definition.
English bull terriers are a ragged
bunch, criss-crossed from one breed
to another. They are not the most
concentrated essence of the canine
species.
BETTY
But they are the quintessential
English canine, wouldn't you say?
OWEN
Now darling, we've been over this
time and time again. You simply
cannot have a quintessential
version of a subclass. It is the
subclass which is quintessential.
If we decide that the English
canine is the quintessential dog,
then the English bull terrier is
now candidate for quintessence of
all the canine species.
(he puffs from his pipe)
It is impossible for anything to be
the quintessence of a subclass
without being the quintessential
example of the very thing which it
is.
BETTY
Well we think the English bull
terrier is the quintessential dog,
don't we poo-kee-poo? Oh yes we
do, oh yes we do.
OWEN
Please dear, you know I get
jealous.
BETTY
I nominate the English bull terrier
as Quintessential Dog. All in
favor? Yay. All opposed?
OWEN
Nay.
BETTY
You've nayed opposition. That's a
double negative, which means that
you're in support of the
nomination.
The Quintessential Dog:
English Bull Terrier
Quintessence: The Quality of Having It., p. 49
Crown Publishers, 1983.
2. Oak table; roasted lamb; candle-light
BETTY
(ripping into her lamb)
I would say... that the
quintessence of evil... is the
quality of life at which enjoyment
is no longer an option.
OWEN
(swallowing wine)
Is that so, dear.
BETTY
It is so.
OWEN
How does one come to decide which
quality of life contains such
attributes?
BETTY
Why, any-such that would impose
relentlessly on one's good humor.
OWEN
Then a question, dear, is at stake:
what would it be, should the victim
of such conditions enjoy the
impossibility of enjoyment?
BETTY
Why it simply couldn't be. The
impossibility of enjoyment would
prevent one from enjoying it.
OWEN
I suppose you're right. Are we to
have a quintessence of evil?
BETTY
We're on "E," dear.
OWEN
True. But I was rather holding out
for "Egg dishes."
BETTY
And which would you find to be
quintessential?
OWEN
Deviled, of course.
The Quintessential Egg Dish:
Deviled
Quintessence: The Quality of Having It., p.58
Crown Publishers, 1983.
3. Armored horseback; lush forest; celestial glow
BETTY
It surrounds us, Darling, do you see?
Rising, to the Heavens?
Purple clouds of stars float by,
beneath the forest's canopy.
OWEN
What is this deep, eternal feeling
which matches, so closely, this
celestial light?
A bow of amber light bends down,
illuminating the forest.
BETTY
This forestry, can it too feel the
warmth of Life, the Love of Nature,
breathing into its very Soul?
Heavenly music hums from the trees,
lingering in the air.
OWEN
Is not the final element of Life
Life itself? The very existence of
Existence? Are we not alive but to
Be alive?
BETTY
And can we not Be without having
once Become?
OWEN
By what other means can Life
Become, but by Love?
BETTY
What is to Live is to Love, and
what is to Love is to Live for.
A sound from afar.
OWEN
But quick: we must make haste.
BETTY
Their riders are strong, the air
grows cold.
OWEN
We must catalog our findings in the
morning.
The Quintessential Element:
Life/Love
Quintessence: The Quality of Having It., p. 114
Crown Publishers, 1983.
|