“Do I contradict myself?
Very well then I contradict myself,
(I am large, I contain multitudes.)”
― Leaves of Grass
Very well then I contradict myself,
(I am large, I contain multitudes.)”
― Leaves of Grass
“A man so painfully in love is capable of self-torture beyond belief.”
― East of Eden
― East of Eden
“You see, one loves the sunset when one is so sad.”
― The Little Prince
― The Little Prince
“Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins. My sin, my soul. Lo-lee-ta: the tip of the tongue taking a trip of three steps down the palate to tap, at three, on the teeth. Lo. Lee. Ta. She was Lo, plain Lo, in the morning, standing four feet ten in one sock. She was Lola in slacks. She was Dolly at school. She was Dolores on the dotted line. But in my arms she was always Lolita. Did she have a precursor? She did, indeed she did. In point of fact, there might have been no Lolita at all had I not loved, one summer, an initial girl-child. In a princedom by the sea. Oh when? About as many years before Lolita was born as my age was that summer. You can always count on a murderer for a fancy prose style. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, exhibit number one is what the seraphs, the misinformed, simple, noble-winged seraphs, envied. Look at this tangle of thorns.”
― Lolita
― Lolita
“You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting –
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.”
―
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting –
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.”
―
Art Lovers
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— last activity 3 hours, 6 min ago
To reciprocate the appreciation of different artists and discuss their lives and works.
Our Shared Shelf
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— last activity Jun 07, 2026 09:53PM
OUR SHARED SHELF IS CURRENTLY DORMANT AND NOT MANAGED BY EMMA AND HER TEAM. Dear Readers, As part of my work with UN Women, I have started reading ...more
Literary Fiction by People of Color
— 13406 members
— last activity 2 hours, 5 min ago
This can include genre fiction that is literary (e.g. speculative fiction, historical fiction, etc.), as long as it's written by a person of color (Af ...more
Catching up on Classics (and lots more!)
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— last activity 3 minutes ago
The world is made up of two kinds of people: first, those who love classics, and second, those who have not yet read a classic. Be bold and join us as ...more
Gore and More
— 1337 members
— last activity Jun 03, 2026 12:55PM
This book club is dedicated to horror and dark fantasy/sci-fi books. Icons such as Stephen King, Robert McCammon, Clive Barker, Richard Laymon, Bria ...more
Marta’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Marta’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
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