“Each gyre orbits at its own speed,” he continued. “And the length of an orbit is called a tone. Isn’t that beautiful? Like the music of the spheres. The longest orbital period is thirteen years, which establishes the fundamental tone. The
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“Ah, Anjin-san, that’s because you’re thinking in your own language. To understand Japanese you have to think Japanese. Don’t forget our language is the language of the infinite. It’s all so simple, Anjin-san. Just change your concept of the world. Japanese is just learning a new art, detached from the world … It’s all so simple.”
― Shōgun: The Epic Novel of Japan
― Shōgun: The Epic Novel of Japan
“For the merchants, the entire world was a single market and all humans were potential customers. They tried to establish an economic order that would apply to all, everywhere. For the conquerors, the entire world was a single empire and all humans were potential subjects, and for the prophets, the entire world held a single truth and all humans were potential believers. They too tried to establish an order that would be applicable for everyone everywhere.”
― Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind
― Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind
“It’s all shit,” he had muttered in English, and felt better.”
― Shōgun: The Epic Novel of Japan
― Shōgun: The Epic Novel of Japan
“Then I remember it’s January, a month when only the potatoes are optimistic about warmer weather.”
― The Rural Life
― The Rural Life
“Scholars of religion have a name for this simultaneous avowal of different and even contradictory ideas and the combination of rituals and practices taken from different sources. It’s called syncretism. Syncretism might, in fact, be the single great world religion.”
― Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind
― Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind
Ed’s 2025 Year in Books
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