There’s a story behind this quote. Most likely you’ve never heard of Gennaro “Jerry” Santangelo. A few months ago I had dream where I was listening to a woman lecture on some literature topic. When the lecture was over and everyone was standing up, I noticed Dr. Santangelo, a former professor of mine at San Diego State University. He was my favorite teacher at SDSU when I was doing graduate work in literature and creative writing. The lecturer was his daughter (In real life he had two sons and no daughters). He walked over to me and said, “Hello Glen.” I was really pleased that he remembered me. He told me he couldn’t talk at the moment but he had a book he wanted me to read. He handed me a thick, hardcover book with a one word title across the top in big, black letters and some black symbols below it all on a white background. I thanked him for the book and the dream ended.
Of course, I can’t remember the title or what the symbols were.
I hadn’t thought much about Dr. Santangelo since the early 90s, but after the dream I began to wonder if he had written anything. This essay, “The Five Motives of Raskolnikov” on Crime and Punishment was the only thing I could find.
Dr. Santangelo was a very nice man, low-key and loved literature. I had him for an American Literature class. We all had to write a rather extensive paper (mine was on Nathaniel Hawthorne). I think there were about 9 or 10 of us in the class and for the final class he had all of us over to his house to discuss the papers and enjoy some Italian red wine (I’m guessing it was Italian—I can’t remember), but I do remember really enjoying that evening with Dr. Santangelo, his wife and my fellow students.
I’ve designed a book cover based on the dream. Not really sure what I’m going to do with it, but when the universe (or Dr. Santangelo) starts speaking to you—it seems like a good idea to listen.
About Dr. Gennaro Santangelo (1929-2009)
Synchronicity
I posted the above quote on X…directly after it this appeared…take look.
Transcription
When individual liberty is denied and good and evil looked upon as prejudices in the way of achieving the greatest good of the greatest number, then the logical conclusion is tyranny.1
— Gennaro Santangelo
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Notes
- Santangelo, Gennaro. "The Five Motives of Raskolnikov." Nineteenth-Century Literature Criticism, edited by Jessica Bomarito and Russel Whitaker, vol. 167, Gale, 2006. Gale Literature Resource Center, . Accessed 15 Jan. 2025. Originally published in Dalhousie Review, vol. 54, no. 4, Winter 1974, pp. 710-719. Source
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