A.M.: Let us come back to the theme of contrasts. Amid the gloominess and derision of the official life before ?89, you made the experience of intellectual and personal authenticity. Today, one is faced with much more numerous and diverse opportunities, yet of a more uniform quality, which no longer encourage such episodes.

Andrei Pleşu: This makes me think of the subtler side of a ?common place? related to the question of initiation. They say it takes a need of a master in order that the master appear. Not quite. Sometimes the master appears as a point of contrast, not of aspiration. I mean to say that a personal aspiration is not absolutely necessary. When an atmosphere or a milieu is in a state of extreme decay, structuring reference points are spontaneously generated. When there is a great ? I would not say need? but lack of models, the models will appear. I would call it an almost natural process, which occurs even in the absence of disciples who are highly capable and ready to be the receptacles of those models. The master appears anyway. So it may be that no masters are to be found today not because there are no people to wish for them. I remember students I had in ?92-?93 saying, ?Weren?t you lucky to have Noica! Why aren?t we that lucky?? So the need seems to be there. What we lack are the contrasts that engender formative quakes and storms. What we have is a sort of superficial dynamic homogeneity that discourages the tension of authentic quest, while only favouring a feverish craving for profitable solutions.