Justwhenwewantthemtosaysomethinghigh-flownandbeautiful, theywillperhapsberemembering a painfullybanaluntimelydetailfromanareaofdomesticlife, orviceversa.
Atanexasperatedmomentneartheendofhislife, theGermanwriterGoethe, whoappearedtohavehad a lotoffriends, explodedbitterly: "Noonehaseverproperlyunderstoodme. I hadneverfullyunderstoodanyone. Nooneunderstandsanyoneelse."
Andwecantakeupthecodedofferoftheirintimacyin, say, thewordsof a Romanpoetwhodiedin 10 B.C. orthelyricsof a singerwhodescribedjustourbluesin a recordingfromNashvillein 1963.