Writing and Reading Inter-Are/1
When a man writes from his own mind, he writes very rapidly. The greatest part of a writer’s time is spent in reading, in order to write; a man will turn over half a library…
Today’s One-Liner (#20)
Consider, Sir, how insignificant this will appear a twelve-month hence. –Samuel Johnson, quoted in James Boswell, The Life of Samuel Johnson
Show Up Already
Even if you lack all faith, simply to seat yourself before an image, hold a rosary and take up a sutra book is to perform a virtuous act, however perfunctory, even seated on your meditation…
A Question/1
“Can we uncover the contemplative springs that are the source of our humanity?” –Daniel Berrigan, S.J., Ten Commandments for the Long Haul Daniel Berrigan; Maryknoll; NY, summer 1988; photo by Mev
Today’s One-Liner (#19)
Whenever people really believe in some truth larger than the academic world, they do not dedicate themselves to the pursuit of academic success with as much ferocity as the people who believe in absolutely nothing. …
Selective Sensitivity
On one of his trips [in South America] ([Franz Stangl] confessed to Gitta Sereny in 1971), ‘my train stopped next to a slaughterhouse. The cattle in the pens, hearing the noise of the train, trotted…
Today’s One-Liner (#18)
I remember when I lived in Boston reading all of Dostoyevsky’s novels one right after the other. –Joe Brainard, I Remember
Things Fall Apart
I had returned to China looking for my old country. I found an even older and more decrepit one. It called itself new and belittled everything old, such as courtesy, culture, civilization. No one under…
Today’s One-Liner (#17)
Show a little faith, there’s magic in the night. –Bruce Springsteen, Thunder Road
Start Where We Are
Why exactly is sudden transformation according to a model impossible? The same question can be asked about individuals: why can’t someone just become what she admires? Disgusted with her life, Tolstoy’s Kitty, as we have…