211 lines
9.5 KiB
Plaintext
211 lines
9.5 KiB
Plaintext
Path: bloom-beacon.mit.edu!grapevine.lcs.mit.edu!olivea!charnel.ecst.csuchico.edu!nic-nac.CSU.net!usc!howland.reston.ans.net!pipex!uknet!EU.net!dkuug!login.dkuug.dk!aod
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From: aod@login.dkuug.dk (Arne O. Dranker)
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Newsgroups: alt.angst,alt.answers,news.answers
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Subject: The alt.angst FAQ -- Monthly Posting
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Followup-To: alt.angst
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Date: 9 May 94 15:05:38 GMT
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Organization: Things that hurt very much for a long time
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Lines: 193
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Approved: news-answers-request@MIT.Edu
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Expires: 30 May 1994 00:53:02 GMT
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Message-ID: <aod.768495938@login.dkuug.dk>
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Reply-To: aod@login.dkuug.dk
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NNTP-Posting-Host: login.dkuug.dk
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Summary: This posting concerns angst, and why your life is so pathetic
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Keywords: FAQ
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Xref: bloom-beacon.mit.edu alt.angst:16208 alt.answers:2757 news.answers:19326
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Archive-name: angst-faq
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Last-Modified: 3 May 1994
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***
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1) What is Angst?
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Any feelings of anxiety, grief, unhappiness, suffering, misery, depression,
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sadness, and fear.
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The Oxford English Dictionary has:
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"Anxiety, anguish, neurotic fear; guilt, remorse."
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Webster's 9th Collegiate Dictionary defines it as:
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"A feeling of anxiety, apprehension, or insecurity."
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Above all, True Angst (tm) arises from the notion that life is
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essentially pointless and absurd, and that our miserable existences
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count for very little in the grand scheme of things. There are two
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main categories of Angst: emotional, and intellectual. Emotional
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Angst encompasses the typical experiences of human suffering.
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Intellectual Angst is primarily concerned with The Great Sucking Void
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of Existence.
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Other related words and definitions:
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Weltschmerz -- Mental depression or apathy caused by a comparison
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of the actual state of the world to an ideal state.
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Schadenfreude -- Taking joy in another's misfortune.
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Angstogen -- An angst producing agent.
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Angstrom -- The unit of angst: more angstroms = more angst.
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As far as etymology goes, Angst is found in both the Danish and German
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languages. Weltschmerz and Schadenfreude are both German.
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"Angstogen" was probably coined here, although it may have been spun
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off of "peeveogen," from alt.peeves, or vice versa. "Angstogen" is also
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used in Dutch and means something like "eyes filled with fear"
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2) alt.angst Protocols and Acceptable Behaviors:
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a) alt.angst does not tolerate cheeriness in any form. This includes use
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of the notorious smiley (which is conspicuously absent here). If you
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feel inclined to post any stories with a happy ending, post them to
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alt.good.news, or some other forum -- perhaps alt.romance.chat. You'll
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be lucky if other members use such kind words to tell you to do the
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same.
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b) Posting to alt.angst: Traps and Tips
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Some alt.angst posters will, occasionally, flame you for failing to
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display sufficient amounts of angst in one or more of its commonly
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accepted forms. These individuals have earned themselves the nickname
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"angst.cops." You have been warned.
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Also, questions asking _why_ men or women are mean and nasty and hurt your
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widdle feelings do not belong here. This includes the now-infamous: "Why
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do girls always go for jerks" and all its pathetic variations. There are
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a number of psychology studies that answer precisely this question. Our
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advice here is to use your newly-found computer skills to dig up any
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relevant literature. Essentially, if you have to ask _why_ humans are
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mean and nasty, you probably don't belong here.
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Other than that, you can use the rule of thumb that states: if it feels
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bad, post it. Chicken Little is an excellent example of someone
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who should have posted to this group. Here, the sky is always falling.
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Our world is in constant crisis with spectres of war, famines and
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starvation, poverty, abuse of the environment, racism and bigotry,
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corrupt leaders, religious zealotry, fear of death, and soured personal
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relationships, not to mention the biggies, like "is there a point to
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existence, anyway?" These questions, and any others you may uncover or
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dream up, should leave no shortage of grist for your personal angst mill.
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3) The Importance of Angst
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We all embrace angst here. It is what defines our existence. After all,
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what use would life be if everything was easy and there was nothing to
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worry about? Angst is a necessary element in the growth and development
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of any human being. It is what builds character; it provides contrast
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and depth to the human experience. Angst, at its simplest, is that which
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makes us human.
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4) Distilled Angst (190 proof): The Angst Calendar, compiled by Steven Snedker
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and hacked into MS-Windows Help format by Erik Radmall
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Available via anonymous ftp from ftp.mantis.co.uk directory /pub/alt.angst.
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If you don't know what anonymous ftp is, then goto news.announce.newusers
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and read everything. If it doesn't help, get the post named "How to find
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sources" from news.answers.
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The calender is available as either hpack'ed or tar'ed and gzipped file.
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The README file in the alt.angst directory details how to unpack such
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files.
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Mantis, the most intellectual site on the net, also stocks some terrific
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files in directory alt.atheism, that you really owe it to yourself (and
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the rest of the net) to check out. They are also periodically posted to
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news.answers by the great mathew. Thanks mathew.
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Note: The alt.atheism FAQ on constructing a logical argument should be
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required reading for _anyone_ who plans on posting to the
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Internet. Please, _please_ read it, understand it, and internalize
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it before wasting valuable bandwidth with meaningless drivel.
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Angsts or Angstful Notions or Angst Suggestions or The Angst Catalogue
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The alt.angst calendar covers most of the subject of angst. But it's 250
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kb. Here's a little handy list you can keep close at hand, whenever you
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feel the urge to put words on your feelings/situation. After the angst
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suggestion there will sometimes be a pointer to other angsts it might be
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rewarding to check also.
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1. Life is pointless/meaningless. There is no reason.
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2. Death is eternal (making life all the more pointless).
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3. Reincarnation (No relief, just more of the same unbearable pain for
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eternity).
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4. Unpleasant feelings are true and pleasant feelings are temporary and
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empty.
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5. Lost opportunities. Lost excitement. I was once young and screwed it
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up.
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6. I'm wasting my time. (8,9,11,12).
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7. Things will never get better (in the sense that it's all going
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downhill).
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8. The future is just more of the same (worthless crap).
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9. Rejection (MOTAS, work, whatever).
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10. Boredom.
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11. Loneliness, being insignificant.
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12. Nothing brings me joy (hobbies, school, work, "friends", family etc.).
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13. There is no escape, no hope.
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14. This mess is my (0-100)% own fault (5,9,11,15).
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15. Strong hate (self, others, places, phenomena).
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16. Insanity (depression, panic attacks, schizophrenia, suicidal
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tendencies).
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17. For all my efforts I was never rewarded (12,9,7,5).
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18. Art or humans cannot help you (13,12,10).
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19. Nothing has any absolute value (1,16).
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20. Wishes coming true will not help (13,7).
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21. Lack of "the basics" (good physical/mental health, money, love etc.).
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22. I'm in an unpleasant situation (1-21).
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5) Cures for Common Angst: Home Remedies and Elixirs (list by Michael Chase)
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1. God(s).
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2. Drugs.
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3. Significant other.
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4. Booze.
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5. Insignificant others.
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6. Physical fitness.
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7. That spiritual purity trip.
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8. Some godawful 12 step program full of losers not nearly as intelligent
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as you.
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9. Shrinks, who are either OK but ineffective, or completely screwed up
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themselves (what is it with them anyway?)
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10. Attitude:
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a. Hostile
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b. All-knowing
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c. Able to help others but not yourself
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d. Humorous
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e. Cynical
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f. Spacer
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11. Turning the pressure into something 'useful'.
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12. Acceptance.
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13. Writing stuff nobody will read.
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14. Exploring your past until you forget what you remember.
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15. Waiting patiently to grow out of it.
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16. Waiting patiently to see where it will all lead.
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17. Waiting for that dude with the AK-47.
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18. Getting pissed off that you can't kill yourself without
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bumming your friends.
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19. Isolation.
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20. Reading everything anybody has to say on the subject
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21. Developing a mild but sincere pride in yourself for surviving, which
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actually helps a little but still depends on the problem for it's own
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existence.
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6) Sources for More Information About Angst
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There is much literature available that conveys angst in its true forms.
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From Thoreau ("most men lead lives of quiet desperation"), to Sartre,
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Dostoyevsky, Plath, and Dante; to ancient sages like the Buddha ("Life
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is suffering"); to Shakespeare and Steinbeck. The Brothers Grimm are an
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excellent source of childhood angst should one desire to educate one's
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children. As for visual art, Bosch, Van Gogh, and Munch spring
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immediately to mind. However, there is so much angstful art out there
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that we do a disservice to the art world by including only these names.
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In sum, almost all true works of art serve as little more than monuments
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to angst, so one can hardly go wrong.
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