A room without books …
“A room without books is like a body without a soul.” (Cicero)
Roberto Grippi
We often share our inner world …
“We often share our inner world with the pretence that a mass of illiterates can read it.” (Goethe)
Politics is the art …
“Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly, and applying the wrong remedies.” (Voltaire, circa 1750)
The very existence of libraries …
“The very existence of libraries affords the best evidence that we may yet have hope for the future of man.” (T.S. Eliot)
Though I may not have wings to fly …
“Though I may not have wings to fly, the dark falls have shown me How to rise from the shadows, and reach for the sky.” (Franco Battiato, Aforismi per una Nuova Umanità)
While the future torments us …
“While the future torments us and the past holds us back… the present slips away from us in the meantime.” (Gustave Flaubert)
The difference between genius and stupidity …
“The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has limits.” (Alexandre Dumas, fils)
You meet saints everywhere …
“You meet saints everywhere. They can be anywhere. They are people behaving decently in an indecent society.” (Kurt Vonnegut)
When someone tells you it cannot be done …
“When someone tells you it cannot be done, more often than not it is a reflection of their limitations, not yours.” (Unknown author)
Culture is what most people receive …
“Culture is what most people receive, many transmit, and few have.” (Karl Kraus)
If every barking dog prompted you to throw a stone …
“If every barking dog prompted you to throw a stone, your arms would soon be gone, all worn to the bone!” (Sicilian proverb)
To live a life of virtue …
To live a life of virtue, you have to become consistent, even when it isn‘t convenient, comfortable or easy.” Epictetus
I don’t measure a man’s success by …
“I don’t measure a man’s success by how high he climbs,but how high he bounces when he hits bottom.” (George S. Patton Jr.)
Corollary to the Dunning-Kruger effect
Corollary to the Dunning-Kruger effect
Think not of the books you have bought …
“Think not of the books you have bought as a “to be read” pile. Instead, think of your bookcase as a wine cellar. You collect books to be read at the right time, the right place, and the right mood.” (Luc van Donkersgoed)
If you pursue your star …
“If you pursue your star, you cannot fail to reach a splendid harbor,if in fair life, I judged you properly …” (Dante Alighieri Divine Comedy Canto XV of Hell)
People generally quarrel …
“People generally quarrel because they cannot argue.” (G. K. Chesterton)
Love all, trust a few …
Love all, trust a few, Do wrong to none: be able for thine enemy Rather in power than use; and keep thy friend Under thy own life’s key: be check’d for silence, But never tax’d for speech. (William Shakespeare,All’s well that ends well)
Our history is not our destiny
“Our history is not our destiny.” (Alan Cohen)
You must never confuse faith …
“You must never confuse faith that you will eventually make it – something you can never afford to lose – with the discipline to face the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they may be.” (James Stockdale)