“Jimmy dealt in one of two limitless departments within the CIA - money and suspicion - so he never lacked work or the appearance of importance.”
― The Peacock and the Sparrow
― The Peacock and the Sparrow
“Immigrants, refugees and the displaced might have yearned for the homes they had left behind – but those homes had gone. They longed for somewhere, but that somewhere was a place preserved in a particular moment in history.”
― Nostalgia: A History of a Dangerous Emotion
― Nostalgia: A History of a Dangerous Emotion
“If you came this way,
Taking any route, starting from anywhere,
At any time or at any season,
It would always be the same: you would have to put off
Sense and notion. You are not here to verify,
Instruct yourself, or inform curiosity
Or carry report. You are here to kneel
Where prayer has been valid. And prayer is more
Than an order of words, the conscious occupation
Of the praying mind, or the sound of the voice praying.
And what the dead had no speech for, when living,
They can tell you, being dead: the communication
Of the dead is tongued with fire beyond the language of the living.”
― Little Gidding
Taking any route, starting from anywhere,
At any time or at any season,
It would always be the same: you would have to put off
Sense and notion. You are not here to verify,
Instruct yourself, or inform curiosity
Or carry report. You are here to kneel
Where prayer has been valid. And prayer is more
Than an order of words, the conscious occupation
Of the praying mind, or the sound of the voice praying.
And what the dead had no speech for, when living,
They can tell you, being dead: the communication
Of the dead is tongued with fire beyond the language of the living.”
― Little Gidding
“To square the circle of the world in your own interpretations is the onset of shortsightedness in an eye that thinks it has perfect vision.”
― ZeroZeroZero
― ZeroZeroZero
“Like many of those who lived through the Second World War, he had witnessed the horrifying consequences of overly myopic nationalism – a sentiment he partially blamed on nostalgic tendencies among people who had never quite managed to wrest themselves from the fantasies of youth and the family. Fascism, for him, was an unintended consequence of societies that were resistant to change.”
― Nostalgia: A History of a Dangerous Emotion
― Nostalgia: A History of a Dangerous Emotion
The Universal Book Haven
— 2075 members
— last activity 31 minutes ago
Where every story finds a reader, and every reader finds a home. A welcoming community for readers who believe that every book, no matter the genre, ...more
Andi’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Andi’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
More friends…
Favorite Genres
Classics, Comics, Crime, Fantasy, Fiction, Graphic novels, Historical fiction, History, Horror, Music, Poetry, Science, and Science fiction
Polls voted on by Andi
Lists liked by Andi


























































