Vom Nein-sagen

Micha | 17.03.2021

“It is only half an hour’–’It is only an afternoon’–’It is only an evening,’ people say to me over and over again; but they don’t know that it is impossible to command one’s self sometimes to any stipulated and set disposal of five minutes–or that the mere consciousness of an engagement will sometime worry a whole day… Who ever is devoted to an art must be content to deliver himself wholly up to it, and to find his recompense in it. I am grieved if you suspect me of not wanting to see you, but I can’t help it; I must go in my way whether or no.”

Dies soll Charles Dickens einst einer Einladung geantwortet haben. Besonders gut und treffend finde ich den Satz “… oder daß das bloße Bewußtsein einer Verpflichtung manchmal einen ganzen Tag beunruhigt … “, wie wahr.

Ein paar Gedanken zum „Nein“-sagen sind in diesem (wiederentdeckten) Artikel zu lesen.

„No” makes us aloof, boring, impolite, unfriendly, selfish, anti-social, uncaring, lonely and an arsenal of other insults. But “no” is the button that keeps us on.“