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He said that there are four types of readers. There is the reading sponge, the reading funnel, the reading colander and the reading sieve. The sponge absorbs everything it comes into contact with; and it is evident he remembers much of it
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“He has nothing personal against Christ; though raised Unitarian—with its glaring omission of Jesus and a hymnal so unorthodox that it was years before Less understood “Accentuate the Positive” was not in the Book of Common Prayer—Less is technically Christian. There is really no other word for someone who celebrates Christmas and Easter, even if only as craft projects.”
― Less
― Less
“I couldn’t forgive him or like him, but I saw that what he had done was, to him, entirely justified. It was all very careless and confused. They were careless people, Tom and Daisy—they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made.”
― The Great Gatsby
― The Great Gatsby
“What constitutes the freedom, the soul of an individual life, is its uniqueness. The reflection of the universe in someone’s consciousness is the foundation of his or her power, but life only becomes happiness, is only endowed with freedom and meaning when someone exists as a whole world that has never been repeated in all eternity. Only then can they experience the joy of freedom and kindness, finding in others what they have already found in themselves.”
― Life and Fate (Vintage Classic Russians Series): As heard on BBC Radio 4
― Life and Fate (Vintage Classic Russians Series): As heard on BBC Radio 4
“At this point I reveal myself in my true colours, as a stick-in-the-mud. I hold a number of beliefs that have been repudiated by the liveliest intellects of our time. I believe that order is better than chaos, creation better than destruction. I prefer gentleness to violence, forgiveness to vendetta. On the whole I think that knowledge is preferable to ignorance, and I am sure that human sympathy is more valuable than ideology. I believe that in spite of the recent triumphs of science, men haven't changed much in the last two thousand years; and in consequence we must still try to learn from history. History is ourselves. I also hold one or two beliefs that are more difficult to put shortly. For example, I believe in courtesy, the ritual by which we avoid hurting other people's feelings by satisfying our own egos. And I think we should remember that we are part of a great whole. All living things are our brothers and sisters. Above all, I believe in the God-given genius of certain individuals, and I value a society that makes their existence possible.”
― Civilisation
― Civilisation
“Human groupings have one main purpose: to assert everyone’s right to be different, to be special, to think, feel and live in his or her own way. People join together in order to win or defend this right. But this is where a terrible, fateful error is born: the belief that these groupings in the name of a race, a God, a party or a State are the very purpose of life and not simply a means to an end. No! The only true and lasting meaning of the struggle for life lies in the individual, in his modest peculiarities and in his right to these peculiarities.”
― Life and Fate
― Life and Fate
Reading the 20th Century
— 1601 members
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Welcome to 'Reading the 20th Century', a friendly and inclusive group that explores and discusses the literature, history, culture and music of the ye ...more
Reading the World
— 166 members
— last activity 2 hours, 33 min ago
Let's learn about the world. Let's expand our reading horizons and read books for every country in the world. ...more
Around the Year in 52 Books
— 11192 members
— last activity 31 minutes ago
~ 2026 Reading Challenge ~ 52 books for 52 weeks. Each week, members read the book of their choice for that week's challenge requirement. ▶︎ CURREN ...more
Never too Late to Read Classics
— 11947 members
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NTLTRC will help you find your love of Classcis! Find intrigue, well-developed characters, prose that is complex and beautiful, compelling stories tha ...more
Around the World in 80 Books
— 31073 members
— last activity Mar 03, 2026 08:17PM
Reading takes you places. Where in the world will your next book take you? If you love world literature, translated works, travel writing, or explorin ...more
Clare’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Clare’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
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