Résumé What you Started (CV)
Not an Advertisement. Resume What You Were Doing.
Sophia: George Eliot, George Steiner, I have been reflecting on how the past shapes our present, and how words and deeds persist beyond the moment of their expression. Eliot, you wrote, “Our deeds still travel with us from afar, and what we have been makes us what we are.”
Eliot: Yes, Sophia. Every action leaves a trace. We are not born anew each morning; we carry forward the weight, the grace, and the consequences of our former selves. Deeds accumulate, forming the architecture of identity.
Steiner: And yet, Sophia, words carry a different, more fragile burden. Words that are saturated with lies or atrocity, do not easily resume life. Falsehood, cruelty, and malice linger in language, often resisting redemption. Unlike deeds, which may age gracefully into lessons, corrupt words can harden into permanent scars.
Our deeds still travel with us from afar, and what we have been makes us what we are.
— George Eliot (1818-1890)
Sophia: So deeds endure through their tangible impact, while words endure—or fail—through their moral and aesthetic integrity. Both shape our being, yet in subtly different ways.
Eliot: Precisely. To act with care, to honor one’s responsibilities, ensures that the traces we leave are constructive rather than corrosive. In that way, the past becomes a guide rather than a burden.
Steiner: But one must be vigilant with language. Lies and atrocities may be repeated, misremembered, or misused. They resist the normal course of life because they carry toxicity. Restoration requires conscientious effort and a constant awareness of meaning.
Sophia: Then perhaps the lesson is this: resume life with integrity. Do not advertise your deeds or inflate your words. Let your actions travel with you quietly, and let your language, if honest, reflect the life you wish to sustain.
Words that are saturated with lies or atrocity, do not easily resume life.
— George Steiner's (1929-2020)
Eliot: Indeed. There is no need for fanfare. A life conducted with conscience speaks louder than any announcement.
Steiner: And a word, if true, has the potential to endure, to nourish understanding rather than poison it. The responsibility is constant.
Sophia: So we return, not to advertise, but to resume what we were doing: living attentively, speaking truthfully, and letting the continuity of our deeds and words silently shape the world.
The three sit in reflective silence, aware that every action and utterance is a thread weaving the ongoing tapestry of life — a tapestry that neither boasts nor apologizes, but simply is.
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