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Alwin said:
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It was interesting for what is after all meant to be an academic, factual account of the war between Greece and Persia. Except, you know, for the 400 pages of random backstory about topics like speculation on the Eurasian peoples, a method for calcul ...more "
“Mma Ramotswe sighed. 'We are all tempted, Mma. We are all tempted when it comes to cake.'
That is true,' said Mma Potokwane sadly. 'There are many temptations in this life, but cake is probably one of the biggest of them.”
― In the Company of Cheerful Ladies
That is true,' said Mma Potokwane sadly. 'There are many temptations in this life, but cake is probably one of the biggest of them.”
― In the Company of Cheerful Ladies
“He sat on as the sun's rays came slowly down through the trees, lower and lower, and when the lowest reached a branch not far above him it caught a dewdrop poised upon a leaf. The drop instantly blazed crimson, and a slight movement of his head made it show all the colours of the spectrum with extraordinary purity, from a red almost too deep to be seen through all the others to the ultimate violet and back again.”
― The Reverse of the Medal
― The Reverse of the Medal
“I do not say that all lawyers are bad, but I do maintain that the general tendency is bad: standing up in a court for whichever side has paid you, affecting warmth and conviction, and doing everything you can to win the case, whatever your private opinion may be, will soon dull any fine sense of honour. The mercenary soldier is not a valued creature, but at least he risks his life, whereas these men merely risk their next fee.”
― The Reverse of the Medal
― The Reverse of the Medal
“The doctor drummed the fingers of his left hand on the edge of the table, a strange gesture which suggested, Isabel thought, an impatient temperment. Perhaps he had been obliged to listen too long to those whom he did not consider his intellectual equal, exhausted patients with long-running complaints, unable to put their views succinctly. Some doctors could become like that, she thought, just as some lawyers could; prolonged exposure to flawed humanity could create a sense of superiority if one was not careful--and perhaps he was not.”
― The Comforts of a Muddy Saturday
― The Comforts of a Muddy Saturday
“But I will tell you another misery that is not to be denied. In the common, natural course of events physicians, surgeons and apothecaries are faced with enormous demands for sympathy: they may come into immediate contact with half a dozen deeply distressing cases in a single day. Those who are not saints are in danger of running out of funds and becoming bankrupt; a state which deprives them of a great deal of their humanity. If the man is in private practice he is obliged to utter more or less appropriate words to preserve his connexion, his living;and the mere adoption of a compassionate face as you have no doubt observed goes some little way towards producing at least the ghost of pity. But our patients cannot leave us. They have no alternative. We are not required to put on a conciliating expression, for our inhumanity in no way affects our livelihood. We have a monopoly; and I believe that many of us pay a very ugly price for it in the long run. You must already have met a number of callous idle self-important self-indulgent hardhearted pragmatic brutes wherever the patients have no free choice.”
― The Nutmeg of Consolation
― The Nutmeg of Consolation
Alwin’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Alwin’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
709 books
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33 friends
129 books
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31 friends
2,065 books
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279 friends
782 books
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104 friends
178 books
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35 friends
283 books
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60 friends
211 books
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153 friends
624 books
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139 friends
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