“Tragedy was foresworn, in ritual denial of the ripe knowledge that we are drawing away from one another, that we share only one thing, share the fear of belonging to another, or to others, or to God; love or money, tender equated in advertising and the world, where only money is currency, and under dead trees and brittle ornaments prehensile hands exchange forgeries of what the heart dare not surrender.”
― The Recognitions
― The Recognitions
“That sometimes human beings have to just sit in one place and, like, hurt. That you will become way less concerned with what other people think of you when you realize how seldom they do. That there is such a thing as raw, unalloyed, agendaless kindness. That it is possible to fall asleep during an anxiety attack. That concentrating on anything is very hard work.”
― Infinite Jest
― Infinite Jest
“Above all, don't lie to yourself. The man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes to a point that he cannot distinguish the truth within him, or around him, and so loses all respect for himself and for others. And having no respect he ceases to love.”
― The Brothers Karamazov
― The Brothers Karamazov
“What is hell? I maintain that it is the suffering of being unable to love.”
― The Brothers Karamazov
― The Brothers Karamazov
“We never love anyone. What we love is the idea we have of someone. It's our own concept—our own selves—that we love.”
― The Book of Disquiet
― The Book of Disquiet
The Bookshelf
— 26 members
— last activity Apr 22, 2023 03:41PM
The books chosen are books that are literally sitting on my bookshelf and have been for some time. The purpose of this book club is to read, discuss, ...more
Owen’s 2025 Year in Books
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