“I know this doesn't sound like some sort of earth-shattering new idea that's going to change the universe. But I wonder if what Hercules was most afraid of when he was holding up the sky wasn't that he was going to have to hold it up forever. It was that he was going to have to hold it up forever while he was by himself. THat's a kind of scary thing to think about.
Maybe, the stuff we hold up, we don't have to hold up by ourselves all the time. Maybe sometimes we can let someone else hold is up too. Maybe that's how we can get by. Maybe.”
― The Labors of Hercules Beal
Maybe, the stuff we hold up, we don't have to hold up by ourselves all the time. Maybe sometimes we can let someone else hold is up too. Maybe that's how we can get by. Maybe.”
― The Labors of Hercules Beal
“As soon as you remove the sense of finitude and vulnerability, you remove the vitality of any possible love relationship. (43)”
― This Life: Secular Faith and Spiritual Freedom
― This Life: Secular Faith and Spiritual Freedom
“We are here to help you carry the sky when you have to, and we are here to help you put it down when you need to. Why else would anyone ever become a teacher?”
― The Labors of Hercules Beal
― The Labors of Hercules Beal
“Here's what it's like to go into hell: anything horrible that came before this crash is replayed for you, at rapid speed, with heightened lightning, with louder sound, with brighter colors, with higher production values than you can imagine. You can't stop it, and you can't stop it, and you can't stop it.”
― The Labors of Hercules Beal
― The Labors of Hercules Beal
“We must acknowledge the utter fragility of what holds our lives together—our institutions, our shared labor, our love, our mourning—and yet keep faith with what offers no final guarantee. This is the double movement of secular faith. (377)”
― This Life: Secular Faith and Spiritual Freedom
― This Life: Secular Faith and Spiritual Freedom
Karsten’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Karsten’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
Favorite Genres
Polls voted on by Karsten
Lists liked by Karsten









