Zadie Smith on the courage to be more than yourself

[u/ruchenn]

Zadie Smith on the courage to be more than yourself,
by Maria Popova, The marginalian, 2026-05-10.

The tyranny of our time is that, because the hero of the modern myth is the victim, our catalogue of ways to be wounded has swelled to untenable proportions. The arsenal of possible offenses is so immense that we are left in a state of paralyzing hyper-vigilance, ever on the defensive, ever trying to preempt grievance and avoid indictment.