“Marry, and you will regret it; don’t marry, you will also regret it; marry or don’t marry, you will regret it either way. Laugh at the world’s foolishness, you will regret it; weep over it, you will regret that too; laugh at the world’s foolishness or weep over it, you will regret both. Believe a woman, you will regret it; believe her not, you will also regret it… Hang yourself, you will regret it; do not hang yourself, and you will regret that too; hang yourself or don’t hang yourself, you’ll regret it either way; whether you hang yourself or do not hang yourself, you will regret both. This, gentlemen, is the essence of all philosophy.”
―
―
“Anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.'”
―
―
“What matters creative endless toil, When, at a snatch, oblivion ends the coil?”
― Faust: Der Tragödie erster und zweiter Teil. Urfaust
― Faust: Der Tragödie erster und zweiter Teil. Urfaust
“This is the great lesson the depressive learns: Nothing in the world is inherently compelling. Whatever may be really “out there” cannot project itself as an affective experience. It is all a vacuous affair with only a chemical prestige. Nothing is either good or bad, desirable or undesirable, or anything else except that it is made so by laboratories inside us producing the emotions on which we live. And to live on our emotions is to live arbitrarily, inaccurately—imparting meaning to what has none of its own. Yet what other way is there to live? Without the ever-clanking machinery of emotion, everything would come to a standstill. There would be nothing to do, nowhere to go, nothing to be, and no one to know. The alternatives are clear: to live falsely as pawns of affect, or to live factually as depressives, or as individuals who know what is known to the depressive. How advantageous that we are not coerced into choosing one or the other, neither choice being excellent. One look at human existence is proof enough that our species will not be released from the stranglehold of emotionalism that anchors it to hallucinations. That may be no way to live, but to opt for depression would be to opt out of existence as we consciously know it.”
― The Conspiracy Against the Human Race
― The Conspiracy Against the Human Race
Haruki Murakami's "1Q84"
— 266 members
— last activity Oct 30, 2021 01:38PM
This group is designed to help readers share pleasure, pain, questions, answers, views, reviews and comments about "1Q84". ...more
The Great Gormenghast Read
— 89 members
— last activity Mar 22, 2021 12:54AM
This group is for those who wish to participate in a planned read of the original Gormenghast novels as penned by Mervyn Peake before his death. The ...more
Liam’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Liam’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
Favorite Genres
Art, Biography, Classics, Comics, Contemporary, Crime, Ebooks, Fantasy, Fiction, Graphic novels, Historical fiction, History, Horror, Humor and Comedy, Memoir, Music, Mystery, Non-fiction, Philosophy, Psychology, Religion, Science, Science fiction, Self help, Suspense, Sports, Thriller, Travel, and Young-adult
Polls voted on by Liam
Lists liked by Liam


















