Refusal earns admiration only through sustained discomfort and will

Evidence

Discipline and sheer force of will explain much of why we valorize our culture’s refuseniks. Imagine how disappointed we would be, for instance, if we found out that later in life Diogenes got a taste for comfort and took up residence in the suburbs, or if Bartleby had either complied or looked the lawyer in the eye and said loudly, “Fine!” or “No!” It’s uncomfortable to assert one’s will against custom and inclination, but that’s what makes it admirable. — Jenny Odell, How to Do Nothing, 270

Categorization

• CANDY: The imagined ‘Bartleby says loudly Fine! or No!’ is darkly funny and quotable.
• XREF: connects to: Individual stubbornness is only admirable in relation to a hardened collectivity; Incapacity can function as political refusal when it retains genuine desire — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk: The Collected and Unpublished…, 2461