“It is true: Montaigne achieved little else in his life aside from posing the question: “How should I live?”
― Montaigne
― Montaigne
“He desires only to preserve a few memories, assemble a few thoughts, to dream more than live and patiently await death, calmly preparing for it.”
― Montaigne
― Montaigne
“signs. Oh, to have been a rider then. Because after the finish all the suffering turns to memories of pleasure, and the greater the suffering, the greater the pleasure. That is Nature’s payback to riders for the homage they pay her by suffering. Velvet pillows, safari parks, sunglasses: people have become woolly mice. They still have bodies that can walk for five days and four nights through a desert of snow, without food, but they accept praise for having taken a one-hour bicycle ride. ‘Good for you.’ Instead of expressing their gratitude for the rain by getting wet, people walk around with umbrellas. Nature is an old lady with few suitors these days, and those who wish to make use of her charms she rewards passionately.”
― The Rider
― The Rider
“Do I clap along with them?
No. By applauding I would be saying: Hell, Reilhan, it wasn't that important, it was just good fun. I would be saying: You only beat a part of me, and the rest, what does it care, it applauds you.
But Reilhan has beaten all of me.
He who applauds his victor denies that, and belittles him.
Being a good loser is a despicable evasion, an insult to the sporting spirit. All good losers should be barred from practicing a sport.”
― The Rider
No. By applauding I would be saying: Hell, Reilhan, it wasn't that important, it was just good fun. I would be saying: You only beat a part of me, and the rest, what does it care, it applauds you.
But Reilhan has beaten all of me.
He who applauds his victor denies that, and belittles him.
Being a good loser is a despicable evasion, an insult to the sporting spirit. All good losers should be barred from practicing a sport.”
― The Rider
“Books are, I find, the best provisions a man can take with him on life’s journey.”
― Montaigne
― Montaigne
John’s 2024 Year in Books
Take a look at John’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
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