Y, en medio deste tormento, no movio el sancto varon la lengua a formar razon que fuese de sentimiento; antes dicen, y yo he visto, que, si alguna vez hablaba, en el aire resonaba el eco o nombre de Cristo; (1.651-58) The role of
impassivity in the face of affliction finds echoes in early modern as well as contemporary discourses on empathy.
What some have perceived as Christ's
impassivity is rather severity moderated in the act of punishing in accordance with the virtue of temperance, the judgment of reason and the requirements of the law.
I'd bet myself I wouldn't cry if my parents argued (more lessons about regulating
impassivity) and I'd bet myself I could clean my room in 10 minutes, which at least got me started.
From this perspective, the mute
impassivity of Malevich's painting marks an endpoint in the history of art.
Yet the face also reflects wanting in the sense of desiring, however hidden behind bruises and apparent
impassivity (Fig.
The description of the statues' obliteration emphasizes the violent explosion of various parts of the male nudes, which is contrasted with their placid marble eyes'
impassivity: "Los jovenes no se rebelaron, sus ojos se desvanecian tranquilos y polvorientos, fijos en la mas ardiente eternidad.
Sigalis plays him with a crusty
impassivity that flares into wonderful contradiction.
El Saadawi attributes despotism and oppression to a great extent to people's
impassivity, ignorance, and submissiveness: "But where have the people gone?
"Freedom (or will) would, then, consist of not rendering oneself unworthy of that which, in the exemplary event which is death (war or wound), has its component of eternity and
impassivity. Thus resistance takes on its true face [...] to affirm, to confirm, and to rejoin one's destiny" (33).
(173) Throughout his manic account of the massacre George tries to reconnect with Bassam as "my best friend and my brother" (174), but Bassam continually reacts with
impassivity and even indifference.