Mark

“Das Messer sitzt mir an der Kehle. The knife is at my throat; I am face-to-face with doom.”
― Neal Stephenson, Cryptonomicon

“Narcissists do show a lack of concern for others, but they are equally insensitive to their own true needs. Often their behavior is self-destructive. Moreover, when we speak of narcissists’ “self” love, we need to make a distinction. Narcissism denotes an investment in one’s image as opposed to one’s self. Narcissists love their image, not their real self. They have a poor sense of self; they are not self-directed. Instead, their activities are directed toward the enhancement of their image, often at the expense of the self.”
― Alexander Lowen, Narcissism: Denial of the True Self

“The world is bursting with wonder, and yet it’s the rare productivity guru who seems to have considered the possibility that the ultimate point of all our frenetic doing might be to experience more of that wonder. The world also seems to be heading to hell in a handcart—our civic life has gone insane, a pandemic has paralyzed society, and the planet is getting hotter and hotter—but”
― Oliver Burkeman, Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals

“Forty percent of today’s population suffers from chronic nasal obstruction, and around half of us are habitual mouthbreathers, with females and children suffering the most. The causes are many:”
― James Nestor, Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art