Big Books of 2026

J. > J.'s Quotes

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  • #1
    Edgar Allan Poe
    “Men have called me mad; but the question is not yet settled, whether madness is or is not the loftiest intelligence– whether much that is glorious– whether all that is profound– does not spring from disease of thought– from moods of mind exalted at the expense of the general intellect.”
    ― Edgar Allan Poe, The Complete Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe
    tags: greatness, insanity, intelligence, sanity
    1849 likes

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  • #2
    “The remoteness of nature reveals the tragedy of man's isolation and his weakness in the face of vast, impersonal forces.”
    ― John F. Lynen
    2 likes

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  • #3
    Joseph Conrad
    “For all that has been said of the love that certain natures (on shore) have professed for it, for all the celebrations it has been the object of in prose and song, the sea has never been friendly to man. At most it has been the accomplice of human restlessness.”
    ― Joseph Conrad
    tags: joseph-conrad, the-sea
    6 likes

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  • #4
    Samuel R. Delany
    “It is a magic book. Words mean things. When you put them together they speak. Yes, sometimes they flatten out and nothing they say is real, and that is one kind of magic. But sometimes a vision will rip up from them and shriek and clank wings clear as the sweat smudge on the paper under your thumb. And that is another kind.”
    ― Samuel R. Delany, Equinox
    53 likes

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  • #5
    Samuel R. Delany
    “But the point is, when the writer turns to address the reader, he or she must not only speak to me—naively dazzled and wholly enchanted by the complexities of the trickery, and thus all but incapable of any criticism, so that, indeed, he can claim, if he likes, priestly contact with the greater powers that, hurled at him by the muse, travel the parsecs from the Universe’s furthest shoals, cleaving stars on the way, to shatter the specific moment and sizzle his brains in their pan, rattle his teeth in their sockets, make his muscles howl against his bones, and to galvanize his pen so the ink bubbles and blisters on the nib (nor would I hear her claim to such as other than a metaphor for the most profound truths of skill, craft, or mathematical and historical conjuration)—but she or he must also speak to my student, for whom it was an okay story, with just so much description.”
    ― Samuel R. Delany, Nova
    7 likes

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  • #6
    Aberjhani
    “An outrageous instinct to love and be loved blinded your arms to lines of propriety––Women and Men, Christians and Jews, Muslims and Buddhists, white, black, red, brown. An outrageous instinct to love and be loved executed your brain every hour on the hour.”
    ― Aberjhani, The River of Winged Dreams
    tags: buddhism, christianity, conquering-depression, defeating-depression, depression-recovery, human-nature, humanity, intolerance, islam, love, multiculturalism, prejudice, religion, spirituality, suicide, tolerance, unconditonal-love, world-suicide-prevention-day
    10 likes

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  • #7
    I used to think Romeo and Juliet was the greatest love story ever written. But
    “I used to think Romeo and Juliet was the greatest love story ever written. But now that I’m middle-aged, I know better. Oh, Romeo certainly thinks he loves his Juliet. Driven by hormones, he unquestionably lusts for her. But if he loves her, it’s a shallow love. You want proof?” Cagney didn’t wait for Dr. Victor to say yay or nay.

    “Soon after meeting her for the first time, he realizes he forgot to ask her for her name. Can true love be founded upon such shallow acquaintance? I don’t think so. And at the end, when he thinks she’s dead, he finds no comfort in living out the remainder of his life within the paradigm of his love, at least keeping alive the memory of what they had briefly shared, even if it was no more than illusion, or more accurately, hormonal.

    “Those of us watching events unfold from the darkness know she merely lies in slumber. But does he seek the reason for her life-like appearance? No. Instead he accuses Death of amorousness, convinced that the ‘lean abhorred monster’ endeavors to keep Juliet in her present state, her cheeks flushed, so that she might cater to his own dissolute desires. But does Romeo hold her in his arms one last time and feel the warmth of her blood still coursing through her veins? Does he pinch her to see if she might awaken? Hold a mirror to her nose to see if her breath fogs it? Once, twice, three times a ‘no.’”

    Cagney sighed, listened to the leather creak as he shifted his weight in his chair.

    “No,” he repeated. “His alleged love is so superficial and selfish that he seeks to escape the pain of loss by taking his own life. That’s not love, but obsessive infatuation. Had they wed—Juliet bearing many children, bonding, growing together, the masks of the star-struck teens they once were long ago cast away, basking in the comforting campfire of a love born of a lifetime together, not devoured by the raging forest fire of youth that consumes everything and leaves behind nothing—and she died of natural causes, would Romeo have been so moved to take his own life, or would he have grieved properly, for her loss and not just his own?”
    ― J. Conrad Guest, The Cobb Legacy
    tags: baseball, detroit-tigers, humor, love, romance, ty-cobb
    110 likes

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  • #8
    J. Conrad Guest
    “It’s been said that love is all there is; that a lack of love causes people to do evil things. I can buy that. Take it a step further: capitalism, by itself, is not a bad thing; but when taken to an extreme, as it has been in America—when Christmas is but a measuring stick for how well the economy is doing, when Wall Street and the banking industry turn nescient heads to morality in pursuit of the Almighty Dollar, when love of money overshadows love of self and others—what then?

    In the grand scheme of the universe—whatever that scheme may be—when one considers its immensity, that it has existed for billions of years, some of us realize how insignificant our seventy or eighty years is; while others, for whatever reason (selfishness?) pursue materialism to a vulgar degree. In the end, what does all that matter, really?

    It’s nice to spoil oneself from time to time; but really, life’s true gift to oneself is doing and giving to others. That’s love.”
    ― J. Conrad Guest, novelist
    tags: inspirational-quotes, j-conrad-guest
    2 likes

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  • #9
    Love is not a forest fire that burns intensely, hotly and out of control for
    “Love is not a forest fire that burns intensely,
    hotly and out of control for a brief moment until,
    its expendable fuel spent,
    it sputters,
    seeking in vain for something else to consume,
    to sustain itself before, finally,
    it dies:
    cold, black ash the only evidence of its passing.

    Love is, instead, a campfire:
    it provides ample heat and comfort
    to the twosome who sit before it,
    and although its flames may at times wane,
    a well-tended campfire’s embers can be nurtured and fanned
    until the flames once again dance brightly and cheerfully,
    providing comfort to the couple
    who cherish the gentle warmth it ministers.”
    ― J. Conrad Guest, January's Paradigm
    tags: inspirational-quotes, love-quotes, novel-quotes
    13 likes

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  • #10
    Is anyone born a futilitarian? Or does it simply grow on us, like a fungus
    “Is anyone born a futilitarian? Or does it simply grow on us, like a fungus that afflicts the toenail of the great toe on our right foot from wearing shoes too small, eventually spreading to the neighboring toes?”
    ― J. Conrad Guest, A Retrospect in Death
    1 likes

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  • #11
    William Blake
    “If the doors of perception were cleansed every thing would appear to man as it is, Infinite. For man has closed himself up, till he sees all things thro' narrow chinks of his cavern.”
    ― William Blake, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell
    tags: infinity, perception
    1908 likes

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  • #12
    Cornel West
    “It is a beautiful thing to be on fire for justice… there is no greater joy than inspiring and empowering others––especially the least of these, the precious and priceless wretched of the earth!”
    ― Cornel West, Black Prophetic Fire
    tags: african-americans, antiracism, black-prophetic-fire, democracy, economic-disparity, empowerment, humanity, impoverishment, inspiration, joy, political-motivation, political-movements, poor-people, servant-leadership, social-injustice, social-justice, social-movements
    27 likes

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  • #13
    Diversity is an aspect of human existence that cannot be eradicated by terrorism or war
    “Diversity is an aspect of human existence that cannot be eradicated by terrorism or war or self-consuming hatred. It can only be conquered by recognizing and claiming the wealth of values it represents for all.”
    ― Aberjhani, Splendid Literarium: A Treasury of Stories, Aphorisms, Poems, and Essays
    tags: antiracism, changing-demographics, coexistence, coexisting-together, coexistência, coping-with-change, cultural-demographics, cultural-diversity, diversity, eiffel-tower-art, embracing-diversity, hate-groups, hatred, human-migrations, human-rights-day, humanity-and-society, mindfulness, multiculturalism, national-history-day, nonviolence, nonviolent-conflict-resolution, paris-attacks, paris-france, peace-movement, peacism, philosophy-of-life-people, police-culture, police-reform, preparing-for-the-future, self-awareness, self-hatred, teaching-diversity, terrorism, values-and-beliefs, values-and-principles, war, war-on-terror, xenophobia
    56 likes

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  • #14
    The acknowledgement of a single possibility can change everything.
    “The acknowledgement of a single possibility can change everything.”
    ― Aberjhani, Splendid Literarium: A Treasury of Stories, Aphorisms, Poems, and Essays
    tags: acknowledgement, awareness-and-attitude, being-open-minded, change, changing-the-way-you-think, changing-your-life, changing-your-mindset, coexistence, communication, consciousness, consciousness-raising, coping-with-change, diversity, eiffel-tower-art, ending-terrorism, ending-war, faith, hope-for-new-year, human-rights-day, mindsets, multiculturalism, new-year-quotes, nonviolent-conflict-resolution, open-mind, paris-at-night, paris-attacks, peacism, philosophy-for-millennials, points-of-views, possibility-quotes, psychology, shifting-perspectives, spiritual-philosophy, teaching-diversity, world-suicide-prevention-day
    16 likes

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  • #15
    Democracy is not simply a license to indulge individual whims and proclivities. It is also
    “Democracy is not simply a license to indulge individual whims and proclivities. It is also holding oneself accountable to some reasonable degree for the conditions of peace and chaos that impact the lives of those who inhabit one’s beloved extended community.”
    ― Aberjhani, Splendid Literarium: A Treasury of Stories, Aphorisms, Poems, and Essays
    tags: 2016-presidential-race, accountability, beloved-community, civic-duty, civic-responsibility, civic-virtue, civil-disobedience, communities, democracy, democratic-process, discourse-on-a-better-world, discourse-on-democracy, discourse-on-freedom, editorials-on-democracy, emigrants, gun-laws, gun-violence, human-rights, immigration, leadership, leadership-characteristics, leadership-theory, national-history-day, peace, peace-on-earth, police-culture, police-reform, political-art, political-chaos, political-commentary, political-ethics, political-philosophy, political-poets, political-posters, political-rights, political-theory, postered-poetics-by-aberjhani, practicing-democracy, presidential-election, right-to-vote, sustainable-living, teaching-democracy, voting
    45 likes

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  • #16
    Individual cultures and ideologies have their appropriate uses but none of them erase or replace
    “Individual cultures and ideologies have their appropriate uses but none of them erase or replace the universal experiences, like love and weeping and laughter, common to all human beings.”
    ― Aberjhani, Splendid Literarium: A Treasury of Stories, Aphorisms, Poems, and Essays
    tags: agape-love, angel-art, anti-racism, antiracism, appropriate-application, coexistence, common-ground, cultural-boundaries, cultural-demographics, cultural-differences, cultural-heritage, cultural-literacy, cultural-relativism, demographics, diversity, ending-violent-jihad, ending-war, faith-in-humanity, faith-in-love, human-beings, human-condition, humanity, ideologies, ideology, ideology-religion-war-compromise, interfaith-dialogue, joy, joy-of-life, laughter, love-for-humanity, multiculturalism, multiculturalismo, nonviolent-conflict-resolution, peacism, philosophy-for-millennials, race-relations, racial-division, racial-identity, social-philosophy, sociological-imagination, spiritual-philosophy, universal, universal-love, universal-truths, universality, waging-peace, weeping
    31 likes

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  • #17
    The gentle pulsing and flickering of stars and nebulae made a kind of music, a
    “The gentle pulsing and flickering of stars and nebulae made a kind of music, a sweet easy mesh of whispered tones and sighing harmonies that held him in its force like the earth [holding] the moon.”
    ― Aberjhani, Songs from the Black Skylark zPed Music Player
    tags: black-skylark, dream-vision, earth, fantasy-novels, fiction-character-danny-blue, flickering-stars, flying, harmony, meditation, metaphysical-book, metaphysical-fiction, metaphysical-poets, moon, music, music-of-the-spheres, mysticism, mythopoeic-ficiton, nebulae, novels-by-aberjhani, paranormal-characters, paranormal-urban-fantasy-romance, postered-poetics-by-aberjhani, sighs, speculative-fiction, stars, supernatural-mystery, visionary-metaphysics, zped-music-player
    19 likes

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  • #18
    We ache with the yearning that turns half into whole and offer no excuses for
    “We ache with the yearning
    that turns half into whole
    and offer no excuses
    for the beauty of our souls.”
    ― Aberjhani, Songs from the Black Skylark zPed Music Player
    tags: ache, agape-love, beauty, coexistence, excuses, globalization, hope-for-humanity, human-soul, longing, love-without-fear, love-without-reason, multiculturalismo, multiculturalità, mythology-fiction, mythology-philosophy, mythopoeic-fiction, mythopoeic-literature, national-poetry-month, nonviolence, nonviolent-conflict-resolution, passion, peace-makers, peacism, philosophy-of-diversity, philosophy-of-multiculturalism, reconciliaition, song-lyrics, songs-from-the-black-skylark, souls, spiritual-desire, spiritual-grace, unity, waging-peace, world-poetry-day, yearning, zped-music-player
    22 likes

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  • #19
    Our greatest power as nations and individuals is not the ability to employ assault weapons,
    “Our greatest power as nations and individuals is not the ability
    to employ assault weapons, suicide bombers, and drones
    to destroy each other. The greater more creative powers
    with which we may arm ourselves are grace and compassion
    sufficient enough to love and save each other.”
    ― Aberjhani, Splendid Literarium: A Treasury of Stories, Aphorisms, Poems, and Essays
    tags: agape-love, assault-weapons, believing-in-love, coexistence, compassion, creative-minds, creative-thinking, diversity, drones, empowerment-and-attitude, ending-gun-violence, faith-in-humanity, faith-in-love, grace, great-power, gun-laws, gun-safety, indviduality, jihad, jihadism-and-love, love-for-humanity, nations, nonviolent-conflict-resolution, peacism, people, philosophy-of-compassion, philosophy-of-grace, power, salvation, spirituality, suicide, suicide-bombers, sustainable-living, teaching-diversity, teaching-multiculturalism, waging-peace, war, wisdom-quotes
    26 likes

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  • #20
    Individuals often turn to poetry, not only to glean strength and perspective from the words
    “Individuals often turn to poetry, not only to glean strength
    and perspective from the words of others, but to give birth
    to their own poetic voices and to hold history accountable
    for the catastrophes rearranging their lives.”
    ― Aberjhani, Splendid Literarium: A Treasury of Stories, Aphorisms, Poems, and Essays
    tags: academy-of-american-poets, accountability, beauty, calligraphy-art, celebrating-art, celebrating-poetry, classic-poetry, contemporary-poetry, creative-imagination, creativity, ga-gaskell, georgia-poets, history, individuality, inspiration, international-poets, jazz-appreciation-month, literary-theory, make-art-not-war, national-poetry-month, national-poetry-month-2016, npm16, pocket-poem, poem-in-your-pocket-day, poetic-voices, positive-motivation, postered-poetics-by-aberjhani, quotation-art, quotes-by-aberjhani, savannah-authors-and-poets, spencerian, spencerian-art, spencerian-script, strength, surviving-terrorism, surviving-war, world-literature, world-poets
    19 likes

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  • #21
    There is no envy, jealousy, or hatred between the different colors of the rainbow. And
    “There is no envy, jealousy, or hatred between the different colors of the rainbow. And no fear either. Because each one exists to make the others’ love more beautiful.”
    ― Aberjhani, Journey through the Power of the Rainbow: Quotations from a Life Made Out of Poetry
    tags: envy, hatred, jealousy, rainbow
    69 likes

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  • #22
    Aberjhani
    “With each passing day, I allowed myself to become a little more intoxicated by limitless possibilities which seemed sometimes to roll in with the fog, murmur suggestions that would have made me run yelling from them had I been anywhere [other than San Francisco], then leave me to cope with that special brand of terror bestowed by sweet and sour tastes of freedom.”
    ― Aberjhani, Greeting Flannery O'Connor at the Back Door of My Mind
    tags: bay-area, california, coming-of-age, freedom, happiness, oregon, san-francisco, traveling-in-america, west-coast-wildfires, youth
    8 likes

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  • #23
    Naked flights of art unshackled and incandescent songs of poetry undiluted return to the soul
    “Naked flights of art unshackled and incandescent songs of poetry undiluted return to the soul what hate, ignorance, fear, and violence steal from the heart.”
    ― Aberjhani, Splendid Literarium: A Treasury of Stories, Aphorisms, Poems, and Essays
    tags: cultural-arts, ending-gun-violence, funding-the-arts, healing-quotes, national-art-month, national-poetry-month, psychology-of-healing, school-shooting
    11 likes

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  • #24
    Aberjhani
    “We can gain a lot more striving for harmonious coexistence than we can by giving in to hate-filled rage and fear-driven ignorance.”
    ― Aberjhani, Splendid Literarium: A Treasury of Stories, Aphorisms, Poems, and Essays
    tags: 9-11-twentieth-anniversary, anti-terrorism, capitol-hill-attack, coexistence, end-of-afghanistan-war, january-6, nonviolent-conflict-resolution, remember-9-11, waging-peace, world-suicide-prevention-day
    11 likes



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greatness
insanity
intelligence
sanity
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the-sea
buddhism
christianity
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defeating-depression
depression-recovery
human-nature
humanity
intolerance
islam
love
multiculturalism
prejudice
religion
spirituality
suicide
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unconditonal-love
world-suicide-prevention-day
baseball
detroit-tigers
humor
romance
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love-quotes
novel-quotes
infinity
perception
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antiracism
black-prophetic-fire
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joy
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coexistence
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coexistência
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mindfulness
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paris-attacks
paris-france
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peacism
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police-culture
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preparing-for-the-future
self-awareness
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teaching-diversity
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values-and-beliefs
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war
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xenophobia
acknowledgement
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mindsets
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faith-in-love
human-beings
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ideologies
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mysticism
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nebulae
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sighs
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stars
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