Winter, 1960 - 1961: Bitterness

"Bitterness is the thing to watch - toxic. I watch it in myself; when I see it forming like an abscess, I operate fast. Da Vinci's life, filled with frustrations, humiliations, a million projects defeated by others - but each time one failed, he picked up another. If he could not get a mural order he wanted, he took up the study of anatomy; when his airplane failed, he took up the study of birds; when his patrons poisoned his life, he designed a church, or took up astronomy. We all have plenty of causes for anger, but if we let it grow it becomes war and leads to death of all life," Anais Nin writes in a letter to a poet in prison.