the presentiment of its end December 7, 2009

Happiness consumes itself like a flame. It cannot burn for ever, it must go out, and the presentiment of its end destroys it at its very peak. —August Strindberg

the last romance December 3, 2009

The romance of your child’s childhood may be the last romance you can give up. — Adam Gopnik

a renunciation of instinct November 30, 2009

It is impossible to overlook the extent to which civilization is built upon a renunciation of instinct. —Sigmund Freud

or else alone November 30, 2009

I want to be with those who know secret things or else alone. —Rainer Maria Rilke

tools to make tools November 30, 2009

Intelligence is the faculty of making artificial objects, especially tools to make tools. - Henri Bergson

more tangible than prayers November 28, 2009

. . . most bereaved souls crave nourishment more tangible than prayers: they want a steak. —M. F. K. Fisher  

End of Empire November 27, 2009

A great empire, like a great cake, is most easily diminished at the edges. —Benjamin Franklin  

Finest of all the things I have left November 26, 2009

Finest of all the things I have left is the light of the sun, Next to that the brilliant stars and the face of the moon, Cucumbers in their season, too, and apples and pears. —Praxilla

rare in the wild but extremely important November 26, 2009

Smooth shapes are very rare in the wild but extremely important in the ivory tower and the factory. —Benoit Mandelbrot

why have to be human November 25, 2009

Why, when this span of life might be fleeted away as laurel, a little darker than all the surrounding green, with tiny waves on the border of every leaf (like the smile of a wind): – oh, why have to be human, and shunning Destiny, long for Destiny?… —Rilke