Tristan Silva II’s Reviews > The Intellectual Life: Its Spirit, Conditions, Methods > Status Update
Tristan Silva II
is on page 100 of 264
Chapter 4, section IV.
A significant percent of my annotations are “wow.”
“…gag the newspapers!” (p. 95) is prophetic.
“Do something, or do nothing at all… Half-work, which is half-rest, is good neither for rest, nor for work.” (p. 96). See also, Yoda.
The last two and a half pages are beautiful descriptions of working with loved ones. How does it keep getting better?
— Feb 05, 2026 05:27PM
A significant percent of my annotations are “wow.”
“…gag the newspapers!” (p. 95) is prophetic.
“Do something, or do nothing at all… Half-work, which is half-rest, is good neither for rest, nor for work.” (p. 96). See also, Yoda.
The last two and a half pages are beautiful descriptions of working with loved ones. How does it keep getting better?
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Tristan’s Previous Updates
Tristan Silva II
is on page 94 of 264
“Men of pleasure” spend their evenings “dining, smoking, playing cards, talking noisily, frequenting the theaters… going to bed with their minds ‘relaxed.’
Yes, indeed, relaxed; but like a violin with all its strings completely slackened. What a labor next day to tune them all up again!” (p. 91).
I am taking this personally. Crushed.
— Feb 04, 2026 05:29AM
Yes, indeed, relaxed; but like a violin with all its strings completely slackened. What a labor next day to tune them all up again!” (p. 91).
I am taking this personally. Crushed.
Tristan Silva II
is on page 87 of 264
“The human soul is rich: two seeds can be planted side by side without harming each other.”
— Jan 30, 2026 06:24AM
Tristan Silva II
is on page 81 of 264
“…let the stars speak to you of measureless duration; let the pebbles on your path be to you the residue of the formation of the earth; let the sight of a family make you think of past generations; and let the least contact with your fellows throw light on the highest conception of man.”
— Jan 28, 2026 05:18AM
Tristan Silva II
is on page 57 of 264
Still going strong. It’s a very hopeful book. While explaining that the intellectual life commits one to many daunting sacrifices, Sertillanges’s writing is beautiful, and makes the ideal conditions for a life of study sound like heaven.
— Jan 26, 2026 06:36AM
Tristan Silva II
is on page 41 of 264
Really great. Fourth section of the second chapter about the intellectual virtues is about bodily health. I really love that 106 years ago, “go touch grass” was needed advice. “Live as much as possible in the open air.”
— Jan 23, 2026 07:01AM
Tristan Silva II
is on page 10 of 264
I started this as a pdf—it’s already so good, I had to buy it & am currently waiting on the physical copy to come in so I can read it properly. “Is it not a sacrilege to play with the questions that dominate life & death, with mysterious nature, with God—to achieve some literary or philosophical celebrity at the expense of the true & independently of the true?” Banger.
— Jan 16, 2026 06:20AM
