A Proposal To Be Modest

In the December 15 New Yorker, critic Alex Ross sweetly describes his fondness for Leonard Bernstein. Of Lenny's influence, he says: "For a long time, I wasn't sure whether Bernstein had really accomplished something epochal or whether he had simply opened an epoch in my mind." Now that's something I can aspire to. Far too late to change the world--who's got the time--but perhaps my best acts and affections can open an epoch in someone's mind

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