“For each man that shall be damned shall be damned by his own guilt, and each man that is saved shall be saved by his own merit.” Unperceived, here was the start of the modern world.”
― A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century
― A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century
“It had been off-hand and flattering, in exactly the proper proportions, and Louise had cleverly erected a thin shield of something that was less than and better than love to protect him from the comic, unending abuse of the Army. And, now, it was probably over. Women, Michael thought resentfully, can never learn the art of being transients. They are all permanent settlers at heart, making homes with dull, instinctive persistence in floods and wars, on the edges of invasions, at the moment of the crumbling of states. No, he thought, I will not have it. For my own protection I am going to get through this time alone …”
― The Young Lions
― The Young Lions
“Cicero reflects exactly that when he sums up Servius Tullius’ political objectives in approving tones: ‘He divided the people in this way to ensure that voting power was under the control not of the rabble but of the wealthy, and he saw to it that the greatest number did not have the greatest power – a principle that we should always stand by in politics.”
― SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome
― SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome
“An event of great agony is bearable only in the belief that it will bring about a better world. When it does not, as in the aftermath of another vast calamity in 1914–18, disillusion is deep and moves on to self-doubt and self-disgust. In creating a climate for pessimism, the Black Death was the equivalent of the First World War, although it took fifty years for the psychological effects to develop.”
― A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century
― A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century
“Smite a villein and he will bless you; bless a villein and he will smite you.”
― A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century
― A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century
Jaewook’s 2024 Year in Books
Take a look at Jaewook’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
Favorite Genres
Art, Biography, Classics, Cookbooks, Ebooks, Historical fiction, History, Memoir, Music, Non-fiction, Philosophy, Poetry, Psychology, Religion, Spirituality, Thriller, and Travel
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