7,899 books
—
49,789 voters
Nathan
https://www.goodreads.com/nathanprins
“I saw my life branching out before me like the green fig tree in the story. From the tip of every branch, like a fat purple fig, a wonderful future beckoned and winked. One fig was a husband and a happy home and children, and another fig was a famous poet and another fig was a brilliant professor, and another fig was Ee Gee, the amazing editor, and another fig was Europe and Africa and South America, and another fig was Constantin and Socrates and Attila and a pack of other lovers with queer names and offbeat professions, and another fig was an Olympic lady crew champion, and beyond and above these figs were many more figs I couldn't quite make out. I saw myself sitting in the crotch of this fig tree, starving to death, just because I couldn't make up my mind which of the figs I would choose. I wanted each and every one of them, but choosing one meant losing all the rest, and, as I sat there, unable to decide, the figs began to wrinkle and go black, and, one by one, they plopped to the ground at my feet.”
― The Bell Jar
― The Bell Jar
“They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.”
― Memoirs of the life & writings of Benjamin Franklin
― Memoirs of the life & writings of Benjamin Franklin
“When you have eliminated all which is impossible, then whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.”
― The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes
― The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes
“Those who find ugly meanings in beautiful things are corrupt without being charming. This is a fault. Those who find beautiful meanings in beautiful things are the cultivated. For these there is hope. They are the elect to whom beautiful things mean only Beauty. There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written, or badly written. That is all.”
― The Picture of Dorian Gray
― The Picture of Dorian Gray
Political Philosophy and Ethics
— 6263 members
— last activity 17 hours, 58 min ago
Study and discussion of the important questions of ethical and political philosophy from Confucius and Socrates to the present. Rules (see also the ...more
Nathan’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Nathan’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
More friends…
Favorite Genres
Polls voted on by Nathan
Lists liked by Nathan



























































