Sign in with Facebook
3,129 books
—
478 voters
“Let's put it this way: an object created by the human spirit and intellect, which means a significant object, is "significant" in that it points beyond itself, is an expression and exponent of a more universal spirit and intellect, of a whole world of feelings and ideas that have found a more or less perfect image of themselves in that object - by which the degree of its significance is then measured. Moreover, love for such an object is itself equally "significant." It says something about the person who feels it, it defines his relationship to the universe, to the world represented by the created object and, whether consciously or unconsciously, loved along with it.”
―
―
“Remember that there is only one important time and it is Now. The present moment is the only time over which we have dominion. The most important person is always the person with whom you are, who is right before you, for who knows if you will have dealings with any other person in the future? The most important pursuit is making that person, the one standing at your side, happy, for that alone is the pursuit of life.”
― The Emperor's Three Questions
― The Emperor's Three Questions
“We most of us hesitate to make so complete a statement - we remember and we foresee and we doubt. She had no doubts. The moment only mattered. Eternity is said not to be an extension of time but an absence of time, and sometimes it seemed to me that her abandonment touched that strange mathematical point of endlessness, a point with no width, occupying no space. What did time matter - all the past and the other men she may from time to time (there is that word again) have known, or all the future in which she might be making the same statement with the same sense of truth? When I replied that I loved her too in that way, I was the liar, not she, for I never lose the consciousness of time: to me the present is never here: it is always last year or next week.”
― The End of the Affair
― The End of the Affair
“The scenes in our life resemble pictures in a rough mosaic; they are ineffective from close up, and have to be viewed from a distance if they are to seem beautiful. That is why to attain something desired is to discover how vain it is; and why, though we live all our lives in expectation of better things, we often at the same time long regretfully for what is past. The present, on the other hand, is regarded as something quite temporary and serving as the only road to our goal. That is why most men discover when they look back on their life that they have been living the whole time ad interim, and are surprised to see that which they let go by so unregarded and unenjoyed was precisely their life, was precisely that in expectation of which they lived.”
― Essays and Aphorisms
― Essays and Aphorisms
“As a reliable compass for orientating yourself in life nothing is more useful than to accustom yourself to regarding this world as a place of atonement, a sort of penal colony. When you have done this you will order your expectations of life according to the nature of things and no longer regard the calamities, sufferings, torments and miseries of life as something irregular and not to be expected but will find them entirely in order, well knowing that each of us is here being punished for his existence and each in his own particular way. This outlook will enable us to view the so-called imperfections of the majority of men, i.e., their moral and intellectual shortcomings and the facial appearance resulting therefrom, without surprise and certainly without indignation: for we shall always bear in mind where we are and consequently regard every man first and foremost as a being who exists only as a consequence of his culpability and whose life is an expiation of the crime of being born.”
― On the Suffering of the World
― On the Suffering of the World
Brain Science Podcast
— 890 members
— last activity Dec 25, 2021 06:44AM
This is a discussion forum for fans of the Brain Science Podcast. The Brain Science Podcast is "for everyone who has a brain;" which hopefully include ...more
The Dusty Bookshelf
— 807 members
— last activity Oct 16, 2018 08:15AM
A group to motivate you to read all those books that have been sitting on your shelf for years and collecting dust. Plus you can discuss your books wi ...more
PAUK Book club
— 18 members
— last activity Apr 06, 2024 02:11AM
We are an in-person book club that has been meeting once a month in Central London since 2012. If you wish to receive announcements, please subscribe ...more
The Interintellect
— 40 members
— last activity Nov 16, 2020 09:50AM
Goodreads group for members of the Interintellect.
Bryan’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Bryan’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
584 books
|
90 friends
287 books
|
83 friends
227 books
|
21 friends
481 books
|
60 friends
373 books
|
39 friends
254 books
|
168 friends
677 books
|
15 friends
1,070 books
|
56 friends
More friends…
Polls voted on by Bryan
Lists liked by Bryan
