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Jarl Jackson
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Reading for the 2nd time
Jarl Jackson said:
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In these pages, you will find a passage that emulates Jesus's calling of all of us out of the world to follow Him, leaving father and mother... Only with Thoreau it is SIMPLY (of course) to go for a walk---or is it? People say its his "screed" on the
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“How vain it is to sit down to write when you have not stood up to live.”
―
―
“Let no one who loves be called altogether unhappy. Even love unreturned has its rainbow.”
― The Little Minister
― The Little Minister
“The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation. What is called resignation is confirmed desperation. From the desperate city you go into the desperate country, and have to console yourself with the bravery of minks and muskrats. A stereotyped but unconscious despair is concealed even under what are called the games and amusements of mankind. There is no play in them, for this comes after work. But it is a characteristic of wisdom not to do desperate things..”
― Civil Disobedience and Other Essays
― Civil Disobedience and Other Essays
“I find it wholesome to be alone the greater part of the time. To be in company, even with the best, is soon wearisome and dissipating. I love to be alone. I never found the companion that was so companionable as solitude.”
― Walden or, Life in the Woods
― Walden or, Life in the Woods
“TO BE HOPEFUL in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty, but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness.
What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives. If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something. If we remember those times and places—and there are so many—where people have behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act, and at least the possibility of sending this spinning top of a world in a different direction.
And if we do act, in however small a way, we don’t have to wait for some grand utopian future. The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory.”
―
What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives. If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something. If we remember those times and places—and there are so many—where people have behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act, and at least the possibility of sending this spinning top of a world in a different direction.
And if we do act, in however small a way, we don’t have to wait for some grand utopian future. The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory.”
―
Virginia is for Readers
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— last activity Oct 13, 2025 10:39AM
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Jarl’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Jarl’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
1,256 books
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114 friends
551 books
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16 friends
123 books
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3,417 friends
1,416 books
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46 friends
1,780 books
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172 friends
380 books
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120 friends
8,741 books
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249 friends
174 books
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137 friends
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