hum

Despite their fatalistic streak, many Italians are also hypochondriacs and the death of someone so young and fit will have disturbed a great many. The tragic news will probably not prove sufficiently unsettling to stop people from eating Nutella for breakfast, even if Mr Ferrero’s untimely demise naturally begs the question of whether he ate too much of it. The sticky spread is the nutritional equivalent of Agent Orange, being packed with saturated fat, sugar and not much else.

Michael Day

A young man in Japan arranged his circumstances so that he was able to travel to a distant island to study Zen with a certain Master for a three-year period. At the end of the three years, feeling no sense of accomplishment, he presented himself to the Master and announced his departure. The Master said, “You’ve been here three years. Why don’t you stay three months more?” The student agreed, but at the end of the three months he still felt that he had made no advance. When he told the Master again that he was leaving, the Master said, “Look now, you’ve been here three years and three months. Stay three weeks longer.” The student did, but with no success. When he told the Master that absolutely nothing had happened, the Master said, “You’ve been here three years, three months, and three weeks. Stay three more days, and if, at the end of that time, you have not attained enlightenment, commit suicide.” Towards the end of the second day, the student was enlightened.

John Cage

There is no
artwork greater than
a sunny day

Woke up suddenly
suspiciously early, with
a little pang