“We forget men must be paid to kill. Even an act as simple as leveling a village is costly; rapine is not cheap; and children, I am afraid, will not burn themselves.” –M.T. Anderson, The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I
Tag: books
Aug 09
Quotable: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“To the King’s favor quite restored again, Reynard sets forth with all that lordly train, Upon his pious journey to be shriven,— Much the same road that Lawyers go to Heaven;—” —from Reynard the Fox
Jul 31
Aeschylus
“Valerius Maximus wrote that he [Aeschylus] was killed outside the city by a tortoise dropped by an eagle which had mistaken his head for a rock suitable for shattering the shell of the reptile. Pliny, in his Naturalis Historiæ, adds that Aeschylus had been staying outdoors to avoid a prophecy that he would be killed …
Feb 02
Carl Trueman & Aimee Byrd on Boredom
CARL: When you say that you’re bored what do you mean by that? Are there are no libraries to go to? Are there no have books to read? Are there no languages to learn? Are there no places to visit? AIMEE: I know when my kids say, ‘I’m bored,’ that means they don’t have access to entertainment. …
Apr 20
Quotable: Alister McGrath
“Cultural assimilation is all too often the prelude to ecclesial extinction.” — from Heresy!
Feb 27
chromatical book stacking
Dr Ray Stantz: “Symmetrical book stacking. Just like the Philadelphia mass turbulence of 1947.” Dr. Peter Venkman: “You’re right, no human being would stack books like this.” –Ghostbusters, 1984 Last Saturday Heather and I went to Excelsior Springs to kick around some antique shops and flea markets. We have found in our travels that you …
Jan 29
“Sorry to burst your pig bladder!”
The best possible closer to an already interesting article at NPR on the surprising success of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s autobiography, published last year.
Jan 09
Quotable: John Piper on William Mackenzie
“…a lover of books and a lover of people. That’s an unusual combination, you know. Most people who are bookish don’t like people–they just tolerate them.”
Aug 17
Review: Would It Kill You To Smile?
I didn’t even make it through the first two chapters. The characters and their relationships to the narrator are hard to keep track of, and the book might just have the most unlikeable protagonist since Drumline. I paid a quarter for the book, and sadly, I overpaid.
Feb 18
Pine Martens
In An Innocent in Scotland, the author describes the scene from one of the bed and breakfasts he lodges at: ‘On a lamp table in the dining room there’s a little stuffed [taxidermied] animal, some kind of weasel sitting there with a little bushy tail and the sweetest look on its face. “Who shot that little …
