Matthew Kern

Add friend
Sign in to Goodreads to learn more about Matthew.


Leonardo da Vinci
Matthew Kern is currently reading
by Walter Isaacson (Goodreads Author)
Rate this book
Clear rating

 
Impact-first Prod...
Rate this book
Clear rating

progress: 
 
  (32%)
Oct 20, 2025 11:27AM

 
The Design of Eve...
Rate this book
Clear rating

progress: 
 
  (20%)
Sep 19, 2025 07:56AM

 
See all 4 books that Matthew is reading…
Book cover for The Manual: A Philosopher's Guide to Life
When you are feeling upset, angry, or sad, don’t blame another for your state of mind. Your condition is the result of your own opinions and interpretations.
Loading...
Stephen Batchelor
“We could decide simply to remain absorbed in the mysterious, unformed, free-play of reality. This would be the choice of the mystic who seeks to extinguish himself in God or Nirvana—analogous perhaps to the tendency among artists to obliterate themselves with alcohol or opiates. But if we value our participation in a shared reality in which it makes sense to make sense, then such self-abnegation would deny a central element of our humanity: the need to speak and act, to share our experience with others.”
Stephen Batchelor, Buddhism without Beliefs: A Contemporary Guide to Awakening

Thich Nhat Hanh
“People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle. But I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air, but to walk on earth. Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don't even recognize: a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the black, curious eyes of a child—our own two eyes. All is a miracle.”
Thich Nhat Hanh, The Miracle of Mindfulness: An Introduction to the Practice of Meditation

Lao Tzu
“If you understand others you are smart.
If you understand yourself you are illuminated.
If you overcome others you are powerful.
If you overcome yourself you have strength.
If you know how to be satisfied you are rich.
If you can act with vigor, you have a will.
If you don't lose your objectives you can be long-lasting.
If you die without loss, you are eternal.”
Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching

Elie Wiesel
“Then came the march past the victims. The two men were no longer alive. Their tongues were hanging out, swollen and bluish. But the third rope was still moving: the child, too light, was still breathing...
And so he remained for more than half an hour, lingering between life and death, writhing before our eyes.
And we were forced to look at him at close range. He was still alive when I passed him. His tongue was still red, his eyes not yet extinguished.

Behind me, I heard the same man asking:
"For God's sake, where is God?"
And from within me, I heard a voice answer:
"Where He is? This is where--hanging here from this gallows..."

That night, the soup tasted of corpses.”
Elie Wiesel, Night

Walter Lippmann
“Where all think alike, no one thinks very much.”
Walter Lippmann

220 Goodreads Librarians Group — 298445 members — last activity 4 minutes ago
Goodreads Librarians are volunteers who help ensure the accuracy of information about books and authors in the Goodreads' catalog. The Goodreads Libra ...more
year in books
Luke Bu...
752 books | 888 friends

Brett S...
1,231 books | 106 friends

Nick Ba...
637 books | 65 friends

Wendy
936 books | 133 friends

Erin
1,050 books | 56 friends

Peggy
836 books | 415 friends

Cameron...
277 books | 247 friends

Karas C...
154 books | 72 friends

More friends…


Polls voted on by Matthew

Lists liked by Matthew