We understand at a deep level what he means when he concludes that, for so many, America has proven to be “an impossibly tough-minded experiment in loneliness.”
Numidica liked this
“It's not years nor days, but the mind, that determines that we've lived enough.”
― How to Die: An Ancient Guide to the End of Life
― How to Die: An Ancient Guide to the End of Life
“Just as with storytelling, so with life: it's important how well it is done, not how long.”
― How to Die: An Ancient Guide to the End of Life
― How to Die: An Ancient Guide to the End of Life
“(and your grandfather said, 'Suffer little children to come unto Me': and what did He mean by that? how, if He meant that little children should need to be suffered to approach Him, what sort of earth had He created; that if they had to suffer in order to approach Him, what sort of Heaven did He have?)”
― Absalom, Absalom!
― Absalom, Absalom!
“Place no dependence on your own genius, even if you possess it. If you have great talents, industry will improve them; if you have but moderate talents, industry will supply their deficiency--nothing is denied to well directed labor; nothing is obtained without it.”
― Dr. Mütter's Marvels: A True Tale of Intrigue and Innovation at the Dawn of Modern Medicine
― Dr. Mütter's Marvels: A True Tale of Intrigue and Innovation at the Dawn of Modern Medicine
“Cadets at West Point did not make music. The musicians in the dance band and the marching band were Regular Army enlisted men, members of the servant class.
They were under orders to play music as written, note for note, and never mind how they felt about the music or about anything.”
― Hocus Pocus
They were under orders to play music as written, note for note, and never mind how they felt about the music or about anything.”
― Hocus Pocus
Tom’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Tom’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
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