While we're on the subject...
I finished the book this morning. My overall assessment: I cannot believe that Bono allowed himself to be this transparent... this vulnerable. It is a fantastic read.
Here's the excerpt I wanted to leave you with.
Michka: Among all the stars you've met in your life, what do you think all the greatest ones had in common? I'm talking about stars in the sense of people who went on to achieve extraordinary things. It may be Frank Sinatra or it may be Balthus.
Bono: [ponders] Well, the older stars in the firmament, the more ancient stars in the firmament, I look at them sometimes just to understand how they're still in the sky, OK? Wisdom. My fascination is warranted just by that. But the ones whose light will remain with me long after they have burnt out are the ones that had grace. Because it's rare that the gift comes with grace. You get the gift -- you don't get the grace. Some of the biggest assholes I've ever met are the most gifted. So when you're getting both together, like Louis LeBrocquy, like Nelson Mandela, like Johnny Cash, like Willie Nelson, they leave an indelible impression. Because it's "pretty girl" syndrome. Being gifted is like being born beautiful. You don't have to work a day in a year in your life for it. You were born with it. In one sense, it's like blue blood, money, gift, or beauty. They are the things that should make you the most humble, because they are not things you have earned. They are things you were given. Yet, it is my experience that they make people the most spoiled. And the people who work the hardest, and who have overcome the most obstacles in their life, who have a reason to be arrogant, who have a reason to beat their breasts are the most humble, sometimes. I can't get over that. If it's maddening to me, how mad must God be, who's giving these gifts out. I don't quite know how He dishes out those gifts, whether it's DNA or favor, but it's bewildering to me. So to make it through success and still have manners, to still have curiosity, intellectual curiosity, to still have some grace, to keep your dignity, that is really. . . rare.
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