...

I am currently reading "El Laberinto de Soledad" by Octavio Paz and I found this snippet interesting. In context of the immense suffering of Mexican life under Aztec and Colonial Rule, Paz says,

"La historia tiene la realidad atroz de una pesadilla; la grandeza del hombre consiste en hacer obras hermosas y durables con la sustancia real de esa pesadilla. O dicho de otro modo: transfigurar la pesadilla en visión, liberamos, así sea por un instante, de la realidad disforme por medio de la creación."

My amateur translation: "History has the atrocious reality of a nightmare; the grandness of man consists in creating beautiful and lasting works with the real sustenance of that nightmare. Or said in another way: transfigurating the nightmare into a vision, we free ourselves, be it for an instnat, of the warped reality through the creation."

This sentiment is along the lines of Schopenhauer's position on art, which is that art—especially music—liberates us momentarily from suffering. Indeed, creation is salvation, a purifying edification of our suffering essence. Not only that, creation also serves to alleviate the suffering of others—a most noble goal.

---