“But even Plato knew that class and conditioning and so forth have an inalterable effect on the individual. It seems to me that psychology is only another word for what the ancients called fate.”
“Late modern society is principally concerned with purchasing things, in ever greater abundance and variety, and so has to strive to fabricate an ever greater number of desires to gratify, and to abolish as many limits and prohibitions upon desire as it can. Such a society is already implicitly atheist and so must slowly but relentlessly apply itself to the dissolution of transcendent values. It cannot allow ultimate goods to distract us from proximate goods. Our sacred writ is advertising, our piety is shopping, our highest devotion is private choice. God and the soul too often hinder the purely acquisitive longings upon which the market depends, and confront us with values that stand in stark rivalry to the only truly substantial value at the center of the social universe: the price tag.”
― The Experience of God: Being, Consciousness, Bliss
― The Experience of God: Being, Consciousness, Bliss
“That rifle on the wall of the labourer's cottage or working class flat is the symbol of democracy. It is our job to see that it stays there.”
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“The whole educational and professional training system is a very elaborate filter, which just weeds out people who are too independent, and who think for themselves, and who don't know how to be submissive, and so on -- because they're dysfunctional to the institutions.”
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“Saruman believes it is only great power that can hold evil in check, but that is not what I have found. It is the small everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay. Small acts of kindness and love. Why Bilbo Baggins? Perhaps because I am afraid, and he gives me courage.”
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Donna Tartt
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For readers who, like me, love both of Donna Tartt's novels, The Secret History (1992) and The Little Friend (2002) and may be wondering what happened ...more
Caroliniana Athenaeum
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— last activity Feb 17, 2021 06:58AM
A bi-weekly reading group for the members of the Caroliniana Athenaeum. Members of the Caroliniana Athenaeum may add events, create polls, submit revi ...more
Charles McBryde’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Charles McBryde’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
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