SPANIARDS AND DISCIPLINE

 

Leafing through my Diccionario panhispánico de citas (2008), I stop at the entry for Diciplina, to read "La disciplina no parece ser la más destacada de las virtudes españolas" written by Antonio Vallejo-Nájera (1926-1990) in his Yo, el rey. I also chose at the time another interesting quotation from César González Ruano: "A mí me parece que la disciplina es una de las características  más profundas del talento mismo, una de las formas más acabadas y perfectas de la inteligencia." (Pueblo, 29/01/1955.) It seems to me that what ails the Hispanic character is that lack of self-imposed discipline that permeates over every filament of their lives. "Nos falta disciplina y acabamos yendo cada uno por nuestro lado" wrote José María de Areilza, Count of Motrico, in his Paisajes y semblanzas, 1988. May this be just a figment of my imagination? Probably.