Barbara
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“we rarely confide in those who are better than we. Rather, we are more inclined to flee their society. Most often, on the other hand, we confess to those who are like us and who share our weaknesses. Hence we don't want to improve ourselves and be bettered, for we should first have to be judged in default. We merely wish to be pitied and encouraged in the course we have chosen. In short, we should like, at the same time, to cease being guilty and yet not to make the effort of cleansing ourselves.”
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“How can I lose faith in the justice of life, when the dreams of those who sleep upon feathers are not more beautiful than the dreams of those who sleep upon the earth?”
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“Happy," I muttered, trying to pin the word down. But it is one of those words, like Love, that I have never quite understood. Most people who deal in words don’t have much faith in them and I am no exception – especially the big ones like Happy and Love and Honest and Strong. They are too elusive and far to relative when you compare them to sharp, mean little words like Punk and Cheap and Phony. I feel at home with these, because they’re scrawny and easy to pin, but the big ones are tough and it takes either a priest or a fool to use them with any confidence.”
― The Rum Diary
― The Rum Diary
“You talk when you cease to be at peace with your thoughts.”
― The Prophet
― The Prophet
“I have stitched life into me like a rare organ
--from "Three Women: A Poem for Three Voices", written 1962”
― The Collected Poems
--from "Three Women: A Poem for Three Voices", written 1962”
― The Collected Poems
Barbara’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Barbara’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
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