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“Life's big questions are big in the sense that they are momentuous. However, contrary to appearances, they are not big in the sense of being unanswerable. It is only that the answers are generally unpalatable. There is no great mystery, but there is plenty of horror.”
― The Human Predicament: A Candid Guide to Life's Biggest Questions
― The Human Predicament: A Candid Guide to Life's Biggest Questions
“In a sentence: Life is bad, but so is death. Of course, life is not bad in every way. Neither is death bad in every way. However, both life and death are, in crucial respects, awful. Together, they constitute an existential vise—the wretched grip that enforces our predicament.”
― The Human Predicament: A Candid Guide to Life's Biggest Questions
― The Human Predicament: A Candid Guide to Life's Biggest Questions
“We evolved haphazardly within a random universe; no purpose underpins us, no God watches over us, and no assured glorious future awaits us. We are saddled with a dualistic consciousness that weighs us down and plays tricks on us. We have built and seem unable to dismantle a dehumanizing and destructive civilization and mindset that perpetuates deceit and greed. We can make ourselves as comfortable as possible, as doctors tell their terminally ill patients, but we are sadly incurable.”
― Keeping Ourselves in the Dark
― Keeping Ourselves in the Dark
“Human existence is a penal colony; a sexually transmitted disease; a disappointment; nothing but suffering; “a sky-dive: out of a cunt into the grave”; a one-way ticket to the crematorium. “Nobody gets out of here alive”. Every day is a grim passage, a struggle through moments and hours of loneliness, boredom, emptiness, and self-loathing. I count myself among the pessimists. I believe that life is suffering. I force myself (my contraself) to look at other positions, but this remains my default. More specifically, I am a depressive realist.”
― Keeping Ourselves in the Dark
― Keeping Ourselves in the Dark
“I urge you not to distract yourself. Instead, savor awakening. Take advantage of it. Pause as you stare into the photograph of the younger you. Let the poignant moment sweep over you and linger a bit; taste the sweetness of it as well as the bitterness. Keep in mind the advantage of remaining aware of death, of hugging its shadow to you. Such awareness can integrate the darkness with your spark of life and enhance your life while you still have it. To way to value life, the way to feel compassion for others, the way to love anything with greatest depth is to be aware that these experiences are destined to be lost.”
― Staring at the Sun: Overcoming the Terror of Death
― Staring at the Sun: Overcoming the Terror of Death
Nirupam’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Nirupam’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
107 books
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59 friends
24 books
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88 friends
5 books
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51 friends
202 books
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47 friends
15 books
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8 books
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43 friends
2 books
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62 friends
2 books
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63 friends
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