Walt, for Andrew, 1.22.24
I hear it was charged against me that I sought to destroy institutions,But really I am neither for nor against institutions, (What indeed have I in common with them? or what with the destruction of them?)Only…
From Lea Goldberg’s Diary
The greatest and only crime: spiritual laziness. And within that spiritual laziness, one doesn’t even acknowledge it, making it seven times worse. –Peter Cole, Hebrew Writers on Writing
Blake and Dostoevsky
“The Divine Image” To Mercy, Pity, Peace, and LoveAll pray in their distress;And to these virtues of delightReturn their thankfulness. For Mercy, Pity, Peace, and LoveIs God, our father dear,And Mercy, Pity, Peace, and LoveIs…
Remember to Remember
The following is the conclusion to Leo Tolstoy’s short story “Three Questions”— Remember that there is only one important time and that is now. The present moment is the only time over which we have…
Be a Light
Then coming to this pass [Ryōkan] found only one way to go: he made up his mind, to go his own way, that is to say, to pursue the way of truth—the only way a…
Mev and Andrew
For Suzanne Renard Mev Puleo died 28 years ago today and, out of the blue, I just remembered something Andrew Wimmer had written about the book I wrote about Mev way back in 2005. Even…
Here and Now, This Is It
In another passage of the letter to his brother, he defines the ecstatic sense of life that he felt on being pardoned: “Life is a gift, life is happiness, every minute could be a lifetime…
One of This Afternoon’s Gratitudes
A song from a film….
How Rare!
It is truly impressive to speak only reluctantly about something you thoroughly understand, and not to mention it at all unless asked.—Yoshida Kenkô, Essays in Idleness, translated by Meredith McKinney
La Rochefoucauld Nailed It
Le soleil ni la mort ne se peuvent regarder fixement. –Duc François De La RochefoucauldNeither the sun nor death can be looked at steadily.–Leonard TancockMaxim #26