IN RECENT WEEKS, I’VE BEGUN COMPILING A PERSONAL inventory of words that, in my view, should no longer be usable—in speech or any form. This, in the belief that life’s a matter of gradual subtraction, aimed at a solider, more-nearly-perfect
...more
This highlight has been truncated due to consecutive passage length restrictions.
“When the Emancipation Proclamation went into effect, on January 1, 1863, Abbott wrote from the front to his aunt to explain that “[t]he president’s proclamation is of course received with universal disgust, particularly the part which enjoins officers to see that it is carried out. You may be sure that we shan’t see to any thing of the kind, having decidedly too much reverence for the constitution.”
― The Metaphysical Club: A Story of Ideas in America
― The Metaphysical Club: A Story of Ideas in America
“For man's only weapon is courage that flinches not from the gates of Hell itself, and against such not even the legions of Hell can stand.”
― The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane
― The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane
“The lesson Holmes took from the war can be put in a sentence. It is that certitude leads to violence. This is a proposition that has an easy application and a difficult one. The easy application is to ideologues, dogmatists, and bullies—people who think that their rightness justifies them in imposing on anyone who does not happen to subscribe to their particular ideology, dogma, or notion of turf. If the conviction of rightness is powerful enough, resistance to it will be met, sooner or later, by force. There are people like this in every sphere of life, and it is natural to feel that the world would be a better place without them.”
― The Metaphysical Club: A Story of Ideas in America
― The Metaphysical Club: A Story of Ideas in America
“Before matter can peep forth—as a pebble, a snowflake, or even a subatomic particle—it has to be observed by a living creature.”
― Biocentrism: How Life and Consciousness are the Keys to Understanding the True Nature of the Universe
― Biocentrism: How Life and Consciousness are the Keys to Understanding the True Nature of the Universe
“Fourth Principle of Biocentrism: Without consciousness, “matter” dwells in an undetermined state of probability. Any universe that could have preceded consciousness only existed in a probability state.”
― Biocentrism: How Life and Consciousness are the Keys to Understanding the True Nature of the Universe
― Biocentrism: How Life and Consciousness are the Keys to Understanding the True Nature of the Universe
The History Book Club
— 26173 members
— last activity 34 minutes ago
"Interested in history - then you have found the right group". The History Book Club is the largest history and nonfiction group on Goodread ...more
Our History
— 599 members
— last activity Dec 16, 2025 08:31AM
This group is for anyone who is interested in history - biographies, narratives, hard history, historical fiction, alternate history, etc. - to share ...more
Brian’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Brian’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
More friends…
Favorite Genres
Polls voted on by Brian
Lists liked by Brian





























































