“Doubt as sin. — Christianity has done its utmost to close the circle and declared even doubt to be sin. One is supposed to be cast into belief without reason, by a miracle, and from then on to swim in it as in the brightest and least ambiguous of elements: even a glance towards land, even the thought that one perhaps exists for something else as well as swimming, even the slightest impulse of our amphibious nature — is sin! And notice that all this means that the foundation of belief and all reflection on its origin is likewise excluded as sinful. What is wanted are blindness and intoxication and an eternal song over the waves in which reason has drowned.”
― Daybreak: Thoughts on the Prejudices of Morality
― Daybreak: Thoughts on the Prejudices of Morality
“Life is problems. Living is solving problems.”
― Silverthorn
― Silverthorn
“There is not one big cosmic meaning for all; there is only the meaning we each give to our life, an individual meaning, an individual plot, like an individual novel, a book for each person.”
― The Diary of Anaïs Nin, Vol. 1: 1931-1934
― The Diary of Anaïs Nin, Vol. 1: 1931-1934
“Because children grow up, we think a child's purpose is to grow up. But a child's purpose is to be a child. Nature doesn't disdain what lives only for a day. It pours the whole of itself into the each moment. We don't value the lily less for not being made of flint and built to last. Life's bounty is in its flow, later is too late. Where is the song when it's been sung? The dance when it's been danced? It's only we humans who want to own the future, too. We persuade ourselves that the universe is modestly employed in unfolding our destination. We note the haphazard chaos of history by the day, by the hour, but there is something wrong with the picture. Where is the unity, the meaning, of nature's highest creation? Surely those millions of little streams of accident and wilfulness have their correction in the vast underground river which, without a doubt, is carrying us to the place where we're expected! But there is no such place, that's why it's called utopia. The death of a child has no more meaning than the death of armies, of nations. Was the child happy while he lived? That is a proper question, the only question. If we can't arrange our own happiness, it's a conceit beyond vulgarity to arrange the happiness of those who come after us.”
― The Coast of Utopia
― The Coast of Utopia
“To be what we are, and to become what we are capable of becoming, is the only end of life.”
― Familiar Studies of Men and Books
― Familiar Studies of Men and Books
Sher’s 2024 Year in Books
Take a look at Sher’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
More friends…
Favorite Genres
Art, Business, Chick-lit, Children's, Christian, Classics, Comics, Contemporary, Cookbooks, Crime, Ebooks, Fantasy, Fiction, Gay and Lesbian, Graphic novels, Historical fiction, History, Horror, Humor and Comedy, Memoir, Mystery, Non-fiction, Philosophy, Poetry, Psychology, Religion, Romance, Science, Science fiction, Self help, Suspense, Spirituality, Thriller, Travel, and Young-adult
Polls voted on by Sher
Lists liked by Sher

















































