Green Oasis

I get the feeling that we’ve lost a real mensch in Paul Newman. When asked why he was a philanthropist, he answered:

Well, I think above all things I acknowledge luck. And I mean, if you think of that torrent of sperm out there…

And — and ours was lucky to fall where it did. That’s for starters. You can’t pick your own parents, but you may be lucky enough to have parents that give you the gift of induction and deduction and certain intelligence, certain way you look. I mean, it’s all — So I — I’ve been very lucky. And I — I try to acknowledge that by giving back something to those to whom luck has been brutal.

He seems like he would have been a good person to talk to.

(via The Situationist)

Update: I’m not the only one to be struck by a je ne sais quoi about Newman. Roger Ebert seems equally perplexed and admiring. I want to call him an Existential Man for no particularly good reason (or even a clear understanding of what it means).

By the way, this is my 400^th post. Yay me!