On Allen Ginsberg, in "The Man Who Knew Too Much: Jacques Barzun, Idea Man", interview with Roger Gathman, The Austin Chronicle (2000-10-13)
“

He sent me a letter from India, where I think he got a fellowship to spend a year or so. He sent me a letter that read, I've just met a wonderful guru who can read minds. "I want you to" — Allen had a way of saying "I want you to do this, I want you to do that" — "I want you to get him a position in the Philosophy Department." I wrote back, "Dear Allen, the members of the Philosophy Department want nothing so little as to have their minds read."

— Jacques Barzun

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "He sent me a letter from India, where I think he got a fellowship to spend a year or so. He sent me a letter that read, I've just met a wonderful guru who can read minds. "I want you to" — Allen had a way of saying "I want you to do this, I want you to do that" — "I want you to get him a position in the Philosophy Department." I wrote back, "Dear Allen, the members of the Philosophy Department want nothing so little as to have their minds read."" in the context of "On Allen Ginsberg, in "The Man Who Knew Too Much: Jacques Barzun, Idea Man", interview with Roger Gathman, The Austin Chronicle (2000-10-13)" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

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Source: Wikiquote: "Jacques Barzun" (Quotes) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
Jacques Barzun

About Jacques Barzun

Jacques Barzun (November 30, 1907 – October 25, 2012) was a French-born American scholar, historian, critic, teacher and editor.