“-I'm reviewing it, the stooped man said, and started to plod off.
-You read it?
-No, he said over his shoulder, -but I know the son of a bitch who wrote it.”
― The Recognitions
-You read it?
-No, he said over his shoulder, -but I know the son of a bitch who wrote it.”
― The Recognitions
“But I will tell you Squire that having read even a few dozen books in common is a force more binding than blood.”
― The Passenger
― The Passenger
“Your worst sin is that you have destroyed and betrayed yourself for nothing.”
― Crime and Punishment
― Crime and Punishment
“As he fell asleep he was still thinking of the subject which now occupied his mind all of the time - of life and death.
'Love? What is love?' he mused.
'Love Hinders death. Love is life. Anything at all that I understand, I understand only because I love. Everything is - everything exists - only because I love. All is bound up in love alone. Love is God, and to die means that I, a tiny particle of love, shall return to the universal and eternal source.' These thoughts seemed comforting to him. But they were only thoughts. Something was wanting in them, there was something one-sided and personal, something intellectual. They were not self-evident. And he was prey to the same restlessness and uncertainty. He fell asleep.”
― War and Peace
'Love? What is love?' he mused.
'Love Hinders death. Love is life. Anything at all that I understand, I understand only because I love. Everything is - everything exists - only because I love. All is bound up in love alone. Love is God, and to die means that I, a tiny particle of love, shall return to the universal and eternal source.' These thoughts seemed comforting to him. But they were only thoughts. Something was wanting in them, there was something one-sided and personal, something intellectual. They were not self-evident. And he was prey to the same restlessness and uncertainty. He fell asleep.”
― War and Peace
“The Mona Lisa, the Mona Lisa....Leonardo had eye trouble....Art couldn't explain it....But now we're safe, since science can explain it. Maybe Milton wrote Paradise Lost because he was blind? And Beethoven wrote the Ninth Symphony because he was deaf...”
― The Recognitions
― The Recognitions
Brett’s 2025 Year in Books
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