On the advantages of being a fool

A poem by Clarice Lispector, translated and interpreted, with a personal reflection on fatherhood and my autistic son

The mix of photography with beautiful and meaningful words is one of the most interesting storytelling exercises I can think of.

These days, I was thinking about a poem by a Brazilian writer called Clarice Lispector. I decided to translate it into English myself (software translations can’t quite grasp the idea and choose the right words for poems), and now I’d like to present it to you, along with a photo.

For this one, I would really love to hear what you think, whether you liked it, and your opinions about this poem.

Enjoy the voice over too, as it’s full of sentiment. If you continue reading until the end, I will tell you why I got emotional when reading this piece…

On the Advantages of Being a Fool

Originally written by Clarice Lispector, translated and interpreted by Raf.

The fool, lacking ambition, has time to see, hear and touch the world. The fool is capable of sitting while hardly moving for two hours. If you ask him why they don’t do something, they respond: “I am doing something; I’m thinking.”

Being a fool sometimes offers a world of options, because the wise only find options through cleverness, while the fool has originality, so ideas come to him spontaneously.

The fool has opportunities to see things that the clever do not. The clever are always so attentive to the cleverness of others that they lower their guard around fools, who see them simply as ordinary people. The fool thus gains the skill and wisdom necessary for living. The fool never seems to get a proper turn in life. However, the fool is often a Dostoevsky.

There are disadvantages, of course. A fool, for example, once trusted the word of a stranger when buying a second-hand air conditioner. The stranger said the device was new and practically unused because he had moved to Gávea, where it’s cool.

That fool went and bought the unit without even seeing it. The outcome: it didn’t work. A technician was called, who advised that the device was so broken that repairs would cost a fortune: it would be better to buy another one.

On the other hand, the advantage of being a fool is that they approach the world in good faith. Not being suspicious, they are at peace. The clever man can’t sleep at night out of fear of being fooled.

The clever win with a stomach ulcer. The fool doesn’t even realize that they had already won.

Warning: do not confuse fools with idiots. One disadvantage of being a fool is that you may get stabbed in the back by someone you least expect. This is one of the sorrows that the fool does not foresee. Caesar met his end with the famous phrase: You too, Brutus?

Fools don’t complain. But in compensation, how much do they exclaim!

With all their antics, fools belong in heaven. If Christ had been clever, he wouldn’t have died on the cross.

Fools are so kind that there are smart people who pretend to be fools. Being a fool is a creative process and, like all creation, it is difficult, which is why clever people can’t pass for fools. While clever people take advantage of others, fools get life instead. Blessed are the fools, for they know without anyone suspecting that they know. In fact, they don’t even mind if people know that they know.

There are places that make it easier for people to be fools (don’t confuse fools with the stupid, the ignorant, or the inept). Minas Gerais, for example, makes it easier to be fools. Oh, how many people lose out for not being born in Minas Gerais!

Fools are like Chagall, who places cows up in the air, flying over houses. It is almost impossible to avoid the excess of love that fools provoke. Only a fool is capable of an excess of love. And only love can make a fool.

Why this touch my soul?

Life gave me the best gift I could never have imagined: an autistic child. When I read this poem, I instantly remember my son in his own beautiful, pure, and innocent world, where he helps others in an over-empathetic fashion. I am very happy that, under this poem’s perspective, my son is a happy “fool.”

That’s my duty as a father: to keep him happy, isolated from this world’s shitshow, to protect him. And if I tell you the amount of things I learned from his own way of “being a fool,” you won’t believe it.

Nicholas taught me patience, resilience. He taught me to let go of things that aren’t important, and to observe mediocre people doing their mediocre things in trade of some coins and prizes. He taught me that the only thing that matters in life is happiness. Now I am also proud to be a “fool.”

I am proud of being the father of this guy right here, but now excuse me, I must leave Substack to help him with his homework.