More Recent Reading
Dear L., Here is a list of some books I’ve read in the past few years. Given my pretty rigid leftist mindset, Simone Weil’s maxim was often on my mind in reading the following……
Today’s One-Liner (#125)
If you’ve connected with someone in a moment of life, the essence of that person is right there with you even after their death. –Ram Dass, One-Liners: A Mini-Manuel for a Spiritual Life
In praise of Character in the Bleak inhuman Loneliness
The death-dealing Chancery! The waste of Jarndyce and Jarndyce! The magnanimity of John Jarndyce! The plain loveliness of Esther Summerson! The delusion of Richard Carson! The dignity of George Rouncewell! The lovable hater of Lady…
Today’s One-Liner (#124)
It was not in vain that the ancient Fathers used to say: sit in your cell and it will teach you everything. –John B. Dunlap, Staretz Amvrosy, Model for Dostoevsky’s Staretz Zossima, 150
Our 65th Exchange on Israel and Palestine
A summer evening, 2008, we’re shmoozing at Coffee Cartel. All these years later, Nava, I remember you telling me at one point, totally matter-of-fact, no trace of irritation, “You know, you’re very one-sided.” I acknowledged,…
Today’s One-Liner (#123)
We must endure what is hard to endure and persevere in that which is hard to persevere in. –Tempo Roshi, quoted in Eido T. Shimano, Endless Vow: The Zen Path of Soen Nakagawa
Today’s One-Liner (#122)
The work of extending your goodness and correcting your faults must never stop. –Liu Wenmin, J. C. Cleary, Worldly Wisdom: Confucian Teachings of the Ming Dynasty
Today’s One-Liner (#121)
He that has read Shakespeare with attention will perhaps find little new in the crowded world. –Dr. Samuel Johnson, dedication in Mrs. Lennox’ Shakespeare Illustrated, 1753, cited in A Johnson Sampler, edited by Henry Darcy…
Today’s One-Liner (#120)
“[God] has always given me what I desired, or rather He has made me desire what He wishes to give.” –Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, The Story of a Soul
Recent Reading
Sohrab Ahmari, The Unbroken Thread: Discovering the Wisdom of Tradition in an Age of Chaos Thomas à Kempis, The Imitation of Christ Wendell Berry, Blessed are the Peacemakers: Christ’s Teachings of Love, Compassion, and Forgiveness…