“That's the way it is. If you believe in something your very belief renders you unqualified to do it. Your earnestness will come across. Your passion will show. Your enthusiasm will make everyone nervous. And your naivety will irritate. Which means that you will become suspect. Which means you will be prone to disillusionment. Which means that you will not be able to sustain your belief in the face of all the piranha fish which nibble away at your idea and your faith, 'till only the skeleton of your dream is left. Which means that you have to become a fanatic, a fool, a joke, an embarrassment. The world - which is to say the powers that be - would listen to your ardent ideas with a stiff smile on its face, then put up impossible obstacles, watch you finally give up your cherished idea, having mangled it beyond recognition, and after you slope away in profound discouragement it will take up your idea, dust it down, give it a new spin, and hand it over to someone who doesn't believe in it at all.”
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“The essential matrimonial facts: that to be happy you have to find variety in repetition; that to go forward you have to come back to where you begin.”
― Middlesex
― Middlesex
The History Book Club
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"Interested in history - then you have found the right group". The History Book Club is the largest history and nonfiction group on Goodread ...more
Great African Reads
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— last activity Apr 29, 2026 10:41PM
Here is an overview of the group reads & activities: Regional reads Nominations and Book discussions. Buddy Reads Find someone to read along with!. Sh ...more
Samia’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Samia’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
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