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Scholia to an Implicit Text
Escolios a una texto implícito: Selección
"The most customary form of suicide in our generation is a bullet through the soul."--Gomez Dávila
These aphorisms or "annotations," as Dávila modestly called them, are distillations of the thought of one of the America's most outstanding conservative philosophers. His work is considered of major importance in Italy and Germany, where translations of his theology, informed by a hard-edged realism, continue to stimulate debate. Gómez Dávila is now recognized to have been a thinker of world stature, with a shocking clarity and originality of thought.
These aphorisms or "annotations," as Dávila modestly called them, are distillations of the thought of one of the America's most outstanding conservative philosophers. His work is considered of major importance in Italy and Germany, where translations of his theology, informed by a hard-edged realism, continue to stimulate debate. Gómez Dávila is now recognized to have been a thinker of world stature, with a shocking clarity and originality of thought.
510 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2001
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About the author
Nicolás Gómez Dávila
24 books221 followersNicolás Gómez Dávila was a Colombian writer and thinker who is considered one of the most intransigent political theoreticians of the twentieth century.
His fame began to spread only in the last few years before his death, particularly by way of German translations of his works. Gómez Dávila was one of the most radical critics of modernity whose work consists almost entirely of aphorisms which he called "escolios" (or "glosses").
You can find his aphorisms, translated into English, here: http://don-colacho.blogspot.com/
His fame began to spread only in the last few years before his death, particularly by way of German translations of his works. Gómez Dávila was one of the most radical critics of modernity whose work consists almost entirely of aphorisms which he called "escolios" (or "glosses").
You can find his aphorisms, translated into English, here: http://don-colacho.blogspot.com/
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
January 1, 2024
Compilado de “aforismos” del monumental Escolios a un texto implícito del filósofo Nicolás Gómez Dávila.
Perfecta introducción a una obra única en el pensamiento:
Cada aforismo (técnicamente, un escolio: “un comentario reflexivo en torno a otro texto”) es una suerte de pincelada, que, al estilo puntillista de la pintura, va construyendo e insinuando toda una crítica contra el mundo moderno, la cual nunca llega a ser explícita (de ahí el nombre del libro) pero sí profundísima e inagotable.
Gómez Dávila tardó más de dos décadas en crear más de 10.000 escolios, fruto de la lectura de su monstruosa biblioteca de más de 30.000 volúmenes: leídos en sus originales griego, latín, alemán, inglés, francés y español, según el caso.
Del fondo: el estilo es ácido, irónico, inteligente, integrador, juzgante. Muy en simple: el hombre moderno tiene al hombre como dios y ello le llevará a una decadencia policromática, sépalo o no, quiéralo o no.
De la forma: es interesante comparar qué escolios seleccionó el autor del compendio con los que yo, a medida que avanzo en la lectura de la versión completa, voy considerando dignos de anotación (voy por la página 500 de 1.400 todavía). Por lo que veo, cada lector termina creando su propio breviario de escolios.
(De la edición: Atalanta, simplemente impecable. El índice temático al final es una interesante forma, o intento, de sistematizar el pensamiento de Gómez Dávila, considerando que éste es un pensador asistemático y fragmentario, “una suerte de Nietzsche colombiano” según Volpi)
Perfecta introducción a una obra única en el pensamiento:
Cada aforismo (técnicamente, un escolio: “un comentario reflexivo en torno a otro texto”) es una suerte de pincelada, que, al estilo puntillista de la pintura, va construyendo e insinuando toda una crítica contra el mundo moderno, la cual nunca llega a ser explícita (de ahí el nombre del libro) pero sí profundísima e inagotable.
Gómez Dávila tardó más de dos décadas en crear más de 10.000 escolios, fruto de la lectura de su monstruosa biblioteca de más de 30.000 volúmenes: leídos en sus originales griego, latín, alemán, inglés, francés y español, según el caso.
Del fondo: el estilo es ácido, irónico, inteligente, integrador, juzgante. Muy en simple: el hombre moderno tiene al hombre como dios y ello le llevará a una decadencia policromática, sépalo o no, quiéralo o no.
De la forma: es interesante comparar qué escolios seleccionó el autor del compendio con los que yo, a medida que avanzo en la lectura de la versión completa, voy considerando dignos de anotación (voy por la página 500 de 1.400 todavía). Por lo que veo, cada lector termina creando su propio breviario de escolios.
(De la edición: Atalanta, simplemente impecable. El índice temático al final es una interesante forma, o intento, de sistematizar el pensamiento de Gómez Dávila, considerando que éste es un pensador asistemático y fragmentario, “una suerte de Nietzsche colombiano” según Volpi)
October 18, 2018
Slaphorisms (Slap-Aphorisms)
Recommended...
Short extracts :
—Contemporary literature, in any period, is the worst enemy of culture. The reader’s limited time is wasted by reading a thousand mediocre books that blunt his critical sense and impair his literary sensibility
—Demagogy is the term democrats use when democracy frightens them.
—The greatest modern error is not to proclaim that God died, but to believe that the devil has died.
—The freer man believes he is, the easier it is to indoctrinate him.
—Serious books do not instruct, but rather demand explanations.
—My brothers? Yes. My equals? No. Because there are younger and older brothers.
—To feel capable of reading literary texts with the impartiality of a professor is to confess that literature has ceased to be pleasurable for us.
—Tolerance consists of a firm decision to allow them to insult everything we seek to love and respect, as long as they do not threaten our material comforts.
Modern, liberal, democratic, progressive man, as long as they do not step on his calluses, will let them degrade his soul.
—To maintain that “all ideas are respectable” is nothing but pompous nonsense.
Nevertheless, there is no opinion that the support of a sufficient number of imbeciles does not oblige one to put up with. Let us not disguise our impotence as tolerance.
—The intelligent leftist admits that his generation will not construct the perfect society, but trusts in a future generation. His intelligence discovers his personal impotence, but his leftism prevents him from discovering man’s impotence.
—Let us accept sociology as long as it classifies and does not seek to explain.
—Fools believe that humanity only now knows certain important things, when there is nothing important which humanity has not known since the beginning.
—Sub-literature is the group of worthy books that each new generation reads with pleasure, but which nobody can re-read.
—It is easier to forgive certain hatreds than to share certain admirations.
—Such is the complexity of historical events that every theory finds cases to which it can be applied.
—We presume we can explain history, and yet we fail before the mystery of the person we know best.
—The modern world appears invincible. Like the extinct dinosaurs.
—A bureaucratic destiny awaits revolutionaries, like the sea awaits rivers.
—Modern man denies himself every metaphysical dimension and considers himself a mere object of science. But he screams when they exterminate him as such.
—Neither a revolutionary’s eloquence, nor love letters, can be read by third parties without laughing.
—Communication between men becomes difficult when ranks disappear.
Individuals do not extend their hands to each other when walking in a crowd, but rather elbow each other.
—Literature does not die because nobody writes, but when everybody writes.
—The leftist, like the polemicist of yesteryear, believes he refutes an opinion by accusing the holder of that opinion of immorality.
—The laws of biology alone do not have fingers delicate enough to fashion the beauty of a face.
—The progressive’s cardinal syllogism is simply beautiful: the best always triumphs, because what triumphs is called the best.
—Sociologists, psychologists, psychiatrists, are experts in generalities.
When confronted by the bull’s horns of a concrete case, they all look like Anglo-Saxon bullfighters.
—Reason is no substitute for faith, just as color is no substitute for sound.
—Let us not complain of the soil in which we were born, but rather of the plant we are.
—Political science is the art of quantifying the amount of freedom man can handle and the amount of servitude he needs.
—Modern history is the dialogue between two men: one who believes in God, another who believes he is a god.
—Men can be divided into those who make their life complicated to gain their soul and those who waste their soul to make their life easier.
—The modern world will not be punished. It is the punishment.
Recommended...
Short extracts :
—Contemporary literature, in any period, is the worst enemy of culture. The reader’s limited time is wasted by reading a thousand mediocre books that blunt his critical sense and impair his literary sensibility
—Demagogy is the term democrats use when democracy frightens them.
—The greatest modern error is not to proclaim that God died, but to believe that the devil has died.
—The freer man believes he is, the easier it is to indoctrinate him.
—Serious books do not instruct, but rather demand explanations.
—My brothers? Yes. My equals? No. Because there are younger and older brothers.
—To feel capable of reading literary texts with the impartiality of a professor is to confess that literature has ceased to be pleasurable for us.
—Tolerance consists of a firm decision to allow them to insult everything we seek to love and respect, as long as they do not threaten our material comforts.
Modern, liberal, democratic, progressive man, as long as they do not step on his calluses, will let them degrade his soul.
—To maintain that “all ideas are respectable” is nothing but pompous nonsense.
Nevertheless, there is no opinion that the support of a sufficient number of imbeciles does not oblige one to put up with. Let us not disguise our impotence as tolerance.
—The intelligent leftist admits that his generation will not construct the perfect society, but trusts in a future generation. His intelligence discovers his personal impotence, but his leftism prevents him from discovering man’s impotence.
—Let us accept sociology as long as it classifies and does not seek to explain.
—Fools believe that humanity only now knows certain important things, when there is nothing important which humanity has not known since the beginning.
—Sub-literature is the group of worthy books that each new generation reads with pleasure, but which nobody can re-read.
—It is easier to forgive certain hatreds than to share certain admirations.
—Such is the complexity of historical events that every theory finds cases to which it can be applied.
—We presume we can explain history, and yet we fail before the mystery of the person we know best.
—The modern world appears invincible. Like the extinct dinosaurs.
—A bureaucratic destiny awaits revolutionaries, like the sea awaits rivers.
—Modern man denies himself every metaphysical dimension and considers himself a mere object of science. But he screams when they exterminate him as such.
—Neither a revolutionary’s eloquence, nor love letters, can be read by third parties without laughing.
—Communication between men becomes difficult when ranks disappear.
Individuals do not extend their hands to each other when walking in a crowd, but rather elbow each other.
—Literature does not die because nobody writes, but when everybody writes.
—The leftist, like the polemicist of yesteryear, believes he refutes an opinion by accusing the holder of that opinion of immorality.
—The laws of biology alone do not have fingers delicate enough to fashion the beauty of a face.
—The progressive’s cardinal syllogism is simply beautiful: the best always triumphs, because what triumphs is called the best.
—Sociologists, psychologists, psychiatrists, are experts in generalities.
When confronted by the bull’s horns of a concrete case, they all look like Anglo-Saxon bullfighters.
—Reason is no substitute for faith, just as color is no substitute for sound.
—Let us not complain of the soil in which we were born, but rather of the plant we are.
—Political science is the art of quantifying the amount of freedom man can handle and the amount of servitude he needs.
—Modern history is the dialogue between two men: one who believes in God, another who believes he is a god.
—Men can be divided into those who make their life complicated to gain their soul and those who waste their soul to make their life easier.
—The modern world will not be punished. It is the punishment.
March 23, 2019
Having come upon Gomez-Davila for the first time just three nights ago I can say without question that this book is, alongside Seneca, one of the two times I've ever read something that seemed almost as if verbatim written by myself. Unsure if it is for good or ill that my Borgesian days of hashish and wine are long a thing of the past in this context, it is quite ... not so much hallucinatory but wild, yes, wild ... to 'read oneself.'
I suppose if I ever lose my mind forget who I am, &c., one way to help me out would be by bringing in Davila and Seneca. We'll take it from there.
This book's emergence into my life has been joyous. Joyous! For those of you who think that one ca spend too much time reading and researching... nonsense! Treasures hidden in darkness abound.
Love,
Person from Porlock
I suppose if I ever lose my mind forget who I am, &c., one way to help me out would be by bringing in Davila and Seneca. We'll take it from there.
This book's emergence into my life has been joyous. Joyous! For those of you who think that one ca spend too much time reading and researching... nonsense! Treasures hidden in darkness abound.
Love,
Person from Porlock
November 17, 2025
He writes so concisely, clearly, and with great confidence/wisdom. I don't usually like aphoristic writing, but here it is done so masterfully. I've been reading this book for two months now and it has been so awe-inspiring. His craft and clarity are rare.
I read his essay The Authentic Reactionary a few years ago and am just now tackling this entire collection. Definitely one to read and keep reading.
I read his essay The Authentic Reactionary a few years ago and am just now tackling this entire collection. Definitely one to read and keep reading.
February 12, 2019
Hay escolios que valen más que decenas, que cientos, que miles de libros enteros. Y no me refiero a libros-basura, sino también, y sobre todo, a libros considerados de culto.
July 2, 2024
Challenging, stimulating, and deeply interesting.
December 5, 2023
The scholia are great, but in this book ("The Authentic Reactionary") they form only a small fraction of the text. Most of the book consists of the reflections of the author (not Davila). The reflections are well written and good in themselves, but it is very misleading to present the book as if it were primarily scholia from the great aphorist and then to find out that it is primarily commentary, with relatively few scholia.
November 25, 2023
The translator and editor cleverly uses works from Davila's library to place his scholia into an implicit context and tradition, from which they can be interpreted. But the commentary on the scholia by the editor eventually become a bit tedious and redundant. The intro and the scholia themselves are great, however.
June 2, 2024
"Technology does not fulfill man’s perennial dreams, but craftily mimics them."
"The laws of biology alone do not have fingers delicate enough to fashion the beauty of a face."
"The laws of biology alone do not have fingers delicate enough to fashion the beauty of a face."
January 3, 2019
Un muy bueno libro lleno se pensamientos de un hombre que estuvo entre los grandes de su tiempo y de su país. Ademas de buena lectura, es otimo para aprender terminos de español formal y elegante.
May 15, 2013
The author of this book, Nicolás Gómez Dávila was a Colombian heir, born in a prominent and wealthy family. He decided to live all his life surrounded by books; thinking about the meaning of everything. He did it because he could. Other rich kids decide to sail the oceans or to party all nights. His "rich kid"'s decision was to bury himself in a library for 60 years and do all kinds of thinking about life and humankind. All men should have the same choices so all of us could dedicate our lives to what we love the most. He was a privileged person who could do it, and this book is the result of all his thinking. It is very interesting, and I love to read and re-read it all the time.
Read
May 6, 2011Recomendado por Álvaro Mutis, ya veremos que tal.
February 1, 2021
Elegante, una maravilla de libro.
August 11, 2025
Aún me queda leer todos los aforismos en conjunto de este «tío muy conservador» como diría Rubén.
No tienen desperdicio, ninguno de ellos. Son aforismos para meditarlos, y Nicolás Gómez Dávila era más que un erudito. Llevo un par de meses leyendo de tira en tira, y aunque el otro día me los leí del tirón, este libro es para que dos aforismos te iluminen el día o te lo ensombrecen y tras esto, continuar con la monotonía. Son, in essentia, guerreros en una lucha que no cesa contra la modernidad; una protesta contra las hipocresías presidiarias en nuestro tiempo. A decir verdad, no sostengo una postura tradicional-católica como Dávila, pero sí defiendo la importancia del medievo, la carga contra el relativismo moral, y ese mantra de: «volverse atrás: hacia Platón». No me considero un reaccionario por entero, quizás sólo un hemisferio contiene ciertas moles; por supuesto debo tener en cuenta que hay ideas circuitando, sentencias que son de mi apetito y que pensándomelo mucho, podría compartirlas a quienes quieran escuchar, si es que acaso tienen oídos, pues quien tiene oídos es tolerante y quien no, solamente tiene dos grandes huecos.
Un libro sensacional, y desde luego que la comparación con Nietzsche no le sienta grande.
«El escritor que no ha torturado sus frases, tortura al lector».
«El hombre habla de la relatividad de la verdad, porque llama verdades a sus innumerables errores».
«Toda sociedad finalmente estalla con la expansión de la envidia».
«La ciudad que todo utopista imagina es siempre cursi — comenzando por la del Apocalipsis».
«Saber leer es lo último que se aprende».
«Apreciar lo antiguo o lo moderno es fácil, pero apreciar lo obsoleto es de un gusto auténtico».
«Todo matrimonio de intelectual con el partido comunista acaba en adulterio».
«El pasado es la fuente de la poesía; el futuro es el arsenal de la retórica».
«El fragmento es el medio de expresión del que aprendió que el hombre vive entre fragmentos».
No tienen desperdicio, ninguno de ellos. Son aforismos para meditarlos, y Nicolás Gómez Dávila era más que un erudito. Llevo un par de meses leyendo de tira en tira, y aunque el otro día me los leí del tirón, este libro es para que dos aforismos te iluminen el día o te lo ensombrecen y tras esto, continuar con la monotonía. Son, in essentia, guerreros en una lucha que no cesa contra la modernidad; una protesta contra las hipocresías presidiarias en nuestro tiempo. A decir verdad, no sostengo una postura tradicional-católica como Dávila, pero sí defiendo la importancia del medievo, la carga contra el relativismo moral, y ese mantra de: «volverse atrás: hacia Platón». No me considero un reaccionario por entero, quizás sólo un hemisferio contiene ciertas moles; por supuesto debo tener en cuenta que hay ideas circuitando, sentencias que son de mi apetito y que pensándomelo mucho, podría compartirlas a quienes quieran escuchar, si es que acaso tienen oídos, pues quien tiene oídos es tolerante y quien no, solamente tiene dos grandes huecos.
Un libro sensacional, y desde luego que la comparación con Nietzsche no le sienta grande.
«El escritor que no ha torturado sus frases, tortura al lector».
«El hombre habla de la relatividad de la verdad, porque llama verdades a sus innumerables errores».
«Toda sociedad finalmente estalla con la expansión de la envidia».
«La ciudad que todo utopista imagina es siempre cursi — comenzando por la del Apocalipsis».
«Saber leer es lo último que se aprende».
«Apreciar lo antiguo o lo moderno es fácil, pero apreciar lo obsoleto es de un gusto auténtico».
«Todo matrimonio de intelectual con el partido comunista acaba en adulterio».
«El pasado es la fuente de la poesía; el futuro es el arsenal de la retórica».
«El fragmento es el medio de expresión del que aprendió que el hombre vive entre fragmentos».
November 19, 2025
Llevo un par de meses leyendo de tira en tira, y aunque el otro día me los leí del tirón, este libro es para que dos aforismos te iluminen el día o te lo ensombrecen y tras esto, continuar con la monotonía. Son, in essentia, guerreros en una lucha que no cesa contra la modernidad; una protesta contra las hipocresías presidiarias en nuestro tiempo. A decir verdad, no sostengo una postura tradicional-católica como Dávila, pero sí defiendo la importancia del medievo, la carga contra el relativismo moral, y ese mantra de: «volverse atrás: hacia Platón». No me considero un reaccionario por entero, quizás sólo un hemisferio contiene ciertas moles; por supuesto debo tener en cuenta que hay ideas circuitando, sentencias que son de mi apetito y que pensándomelo mucho, podría compartirlas a quienes quieran escuchar, si es que acaso tienen oídos, pues quien tiene oídos es tolerante y quien no, solamente tiene dos grandes huecos.
Un libro sensacional, y desde luego que la comparación con Nietzsche no le sienta grande.
«El escritor que no ha torturado sus frases, tortura al lector».
«El hombre habla de la relatividad de la verdad, porque llama verdades a sus innumerables errores».
«Toda sociedad finalmente estalla con la expansión de la envidia».
«La ciudad que todo utopista imagina es siempre cursi — comenzando por la del Apocalipsis».
«Saber leer es lo último que se aprende».
«Apreciar lo antiguo o lo moderno es fácil, pero apreciar lo obsoleto es de un gusto auténtico».
«Todo matrimonio de intelectual con el partido comunista acaba en adulterio».
«El pasado es la fuente de la poesía; el futuro es el arsenal de la retórica».
«El fragmento es el medio de expresión del que aprendió que el hombre vive entre fragmentos».
Un libro sensacional, y desde luego que la comparación con Nietzsche no le sienta grande.
«El escritor que no ha torturado sus frases, tortura al lector».
«El hombre habla de la relatividad de la verdad, porque llama verdades a sus innumerables errores».
«Toda sociedad finalmente estalla con la expansión de la envidia».
«La ciudad que todo utopista imagina es siempre cursi — comenzando por la del Apocalipsis».
«Saber leer es lo último que se aprende».
«Apreciar lo antiguo o lo moderno es fácil, pero apreciar lo obsoleto es de un gusto auténtico».
«Todo matrimonio de intelectual con el partido comunista acaba en adulterio».
«El pasado es la fuente de la poesía; el futuro es el arsenal de la retórica».
«El fragmento es el medio de expresión del que aprendió que el hombre vive entre fragmentos».
January 2, 2024
Una gran revelación leer a Gómez Dávila, que, tal como dijera en uno de sus Escolios, nos invita a seguir leyendo, pensando, reaccionar contra nosotros y nuestro mundo. Sin más comparto la cita de un Escolio:
"La palabra no se nos concedió para expresar nuestra miseria, sino para transfigurarla".
"La palabra no se nos concedió para expresar nuestra miseria, sino para transfigurarla".
May 9, 2024
"The cause of the modern disease is the belief that man can cure himself."
August 6, 2021
En sus mejores escolios Don Colacho es muy profundo e incisivo en su critica contra de la modernidad. En sus peores escolios parece un diletante que cree que es mucho más inteligente de lo que piensa.
December 5, 2023
Davila is excellent, and although this edition is very difficult to find, it is the best in English that I've been able to discover.
Read
January 18, 2022In this text lie some truly genius aphorisms regarding all important aspects of life. Highly reccomend to anyone of faith, or prefer non-liberal/absolutist societies for good and decent hierarchies.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews