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Peter
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by Bettenson
bookshelves:
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world-literature,
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fiction-classics,
the-ancient-way,
theology
“Look not too long in the face of the fire O man!...believe not the artificial fire, when its redness makes all things look ghastly. Tomorrow, in the natural sun, the skies will be bright; those who glared like devils in the forking flames, the morn will show in far other, at least gentler relief; the glorious, golden, glad sun, the only true lamp - all others but liars!
Nevertheless the sun hides not Virginia's dismal swamp, nor Rome's accursed Campagna, nor wide Sahara, nor all the millions of miles of deserts and of griefs beneath the moon. The sun hides not the ocean which is the dark side of this Earth, and which is two thirds of this Earth. So, therefore, that mortal man who hath more of joy than sorrow in him, that mortal man cannot be true - not true, or undeveloped. With books the same. The truest of all men was The Man of Sorrows, and the truest of all books is Solomon's, and Ecclesiastes is the fine hammered steel of woe. 'All is vanity'. ALL. The wilful world hath not got hold of unchristian Solomon's wisdom yet. But he who dodges hospitals and jails, and walks fast crossing grave yards, and would rather talk of operas than hell; calls Cowper, Young, Pascal, Rosseau, poor devils all sick of men; and throughout a carefree lifetime swears by Rabelais as passing wise, and therefore jolly; - not that man is fitted to sit down on tomb stones, and break the green damp mould unfathomable wounderous Solomon.”
― Moby-Dick or, The Whale
Nevertheless the sun hides not Virginia's dismal swamp, nor Rome's accursed Campagna, nor wide Sahara, nor all the millions of miles of deserts and of griefs beneath the moon. The sun hides not the ocean which is the dark side of this Earth, and which is two thirds of this Earth. So, therefore, that mortal man who hath more of joy than sorrow in him, that mortal man cannot be true - not true, or undeveloped. With books the same. The truest of all men was The Man of Sorrows, and the truest of all books is Solomon's, and Ecclesiastes is the fine hammered steel of woe. 'All is vanity'. ALL. The wilful world hath not got hold of unchristian Solomon's wisdom yet. But he who dodges hospitals and jails, and walks fast crossing grave yards, and would rather talk of operas than hell; calls Cowper, Young, Pascal, Rosseau, poor devils all sick of men; and throughout a carefree lifetime swears by Rabelais as passing wise, and therefore jolly; - not that man is fitted to sit down on tomb stones, and break the green damp mould unfathomable wounderous Solomon.”
― Moby-Dick or, The Whale
“...what are the comprehensible terrors of man compared with the interlinked terrors and wonders of God!”
― Moby-Dick or, The Whale
― Moby-Dick or, The Whale
“...there is no folly of the beast of the earth which is not infinitely outdone by the madness of men.”
― Moby-Dick or, The Whale
― Moby-Dick or, The Whale
“I promise nothing complete; because any human thing supposed to be complete, must for that very reason infallibly be faulty.”
― Moby-Dick or, The Whale
― Moby-Dick or, The Whale
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This is an open forum for people to discuss Christ-themed books. Whether you'd like to discuss theology, biographies, church history, novels or anythi ...more
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These are the named books: 1 The Lord of the Rings Trilogy by J. R. R. Tolkien 2 1984 by George Orwell 3 Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen 4 The Gra ...more
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A group for anyone interested in modern Welsh literature.
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This is a group that is reading some of the classics that maybe we should have read but we got so turned off by "classics" we had to read in high scho ...more
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— last activity Apr 10, 2014 07:59AM
This group is for anyone who attends The Well Book Group.
Peter’s 2025 Year in Books
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