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Carmen
https://www.goodreads.com/carlau
to-read
(737)
currently-reading (36)
read (256)
did-not-finish (2)
abandoned-onhold (41)
read-soon (33)
art-design (211)
currently-reading (36)
read (256)
did-not-finish (2)
abandoned-onhold (41)
read-soon (33)
art-design (211)
drugs-spiritual
(109)
classics (97)
fiction (62)
poetry (62)
philosophy (58)
business-practical (55)
essays (41)
classics (97)
fiction (62)
poetry (62)
philosophy (58)
business-practical (55)
essays (41)
“To see is to forget the name of the thing one sees.”
―
―
“I think we ought to read only the kind of books that wound or stab us. If the book we're reading doesn't wake us up with a blow to the head, what are we reading for? So that it will make us happy, as you write? Good Lord, we would be happy precisely if we had no books, and the kind of books that make us happy are the kind we could write ourselves if we had to. But we need books that affect us like a disaster, that grieve us deeply, like the death of someone we loved more than ourselves, like being banished into forests far from everyone, like a suicide. A book must be the axe for the frozen sea within us. That is my belief.”
―
―
“If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.”
― Walden or, Life in the Woods
― Walden or, Life in the Woods
“Maybe that’s enlightenment enough: to know that there is no final resting place of the mind; no moment of smug clarity. Perhaps wisdom...is realizing how small I am, and unwise, and how far I have yet to go.”
―
―
“Style is the answer to everything.
A fresh way to approach a dull or dangerous thing
To do a dull thing with style is preferable to doing a dangerous thing without it
To do a dangerous thing with style is what I call art
Bullfighting can be an art
Boxing can be an art
Loving can be an art
Opening a can of sardines can be an art
Not many have style
Not many can keep style
I have seen dogs with more style than men,
although not many dogs have style.
Cats have it with abundance.
When Hemingway put his brains to the wall with a shotgun,
that was style.
Or sometimes people give you style
Joan of Arc had style
John the Baptist
Jesus
Socrates
Caesar
García Lorca.
I have met men in jail with style.
I have met more men in jail with style than men out of jail.
Style is the difference, a way of doing, a way of being done.
Six herons standing quietly in a pool of water,
or you, naked, walking out of the bathroom without seeing me.”
―
A fresh way to approach a dull or dangerous thing
To do a dull thing with style is preferable to doing a dangerous thing without it
To do a dangerous thing with style is what I call art
Bullfighting can be an art
Boxing can be an art
Loving can be an art
Opening a can of sardines can be an art
Not many have style
Not many can keep style
I have seen dogs with more style than men,
although not many dogs have style.
Cats have it with abundance.
When Hemingway put his brains to the wall with a shotgun,
that was style.
Or sometimes people give you style
Joan of Arc had style
John the Baptist
Jesus
Socrates
Caesar
García Lorca.
I have met men in jail with style.
I have met more men in jail with style than men out of jail.
Style is the difference, a way of doing, a way of being done.
Six herons standing quietly in a pool of water,
or you, naked, walking out of the bathroom without seeing me.”
―
Carmen’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Carmen’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
426 books
|
295 friends
276 books
|
65 friends
497 books
|
61 friends
307 books
|
119 friends
1,229 books
|
18 friends
143 books
|
37 friends
0 books
|
10 friends
349 books
|
18 friends
More friends…
Favorite Genres
Polls voted on by Carmen
Lists liked by Carmen