“It is remarkable how a man cannot summarize his thoughts in even the most general sort of way without betraying himself completely, without putting his whole self into it, quite unawares, presenting as if in allegory the basic themes and problems of his life.”
― The Magic Mountain
― The Magic Mountain
“Beauty means the scent of roses and then the death of roses”
― This Side of Paradise
― This Side of Paradise
“I'm not sentimental--I'm as romantic as you are. The idea, you know,
is that the sentimental person thinks things will last--the romantic
person has a desperate confidence that they won't.”
― This Side of Paradise
is that the sentimental person thinks things will last--the romantic
person has a desperate confidence that they won't.”
― This Side of Paradise
“Most people think everybody feels about them much more violently than they actually do; they think other people's opinions of them swing through great arcs of approval or disapproval.”
― Tender Is the Night
― Tender Is the Night
“You Christians studied them,” Settembrini exclaimed, “studied the classical poets and philosophers until you broke out in a sweat, attempted to make their precious heritage your own, just as you used the stones of their ancient edifices for your meeting houses. Because you were well aware that no new art could come from your own proletarian souls and hoped to defeat antiquity with its own weapon. And so it will be again, so it will always be. And you with your crude visions of a new morning will likewise have to be taught by those whom—so at least you would like to persuade yourselves, and others—you despise. For without education you cannot prevail before humanity, and there is only one kind of education—you call it bourgeois, but in fact it is human.”
― The Magic Mountain
― The Magic Mountain
Javir’s 2024 Year in Books
Take a look at Javir’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
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