The lucidity of Francisco Ayala

The daily publishes a long interview with the Spanish writer Francisco Ayala, who is about to celebrate his 100th birthday. Asked about the secret of his great lucidity, he explains that the essential thing is to "maintain one's curiosity and, moreover, that fundamental scepticism that consists of knowing that everything is relative and that there is no such thing as an absolute idea. I have never shared others' fundamental convictions, ones that help many people to get by in the world, such as religion. I have always been exempt from this. I was even going to say 'free', but I prefer 'exempt' because I do not know whether I have been free or not."

» more information (external link, Spanish)
More from the press review on the subject » Culture, » Spain