1,394 books
—
2,823 voters
Fil
https://www.goodreads.com/user/sign_out?ref=nav_profile_signout
https://www.goodreads.com/filfilfil
to-read
(550)
currently-reading (11)
read (508)
part-read-read-again (66)
shelf (36)
cultural-anthropology (23)
culture (19)
poetry (19)
history (16)
read-not-finished (15)
photography (12)
art (10)
currently-reading (11)
read (508)
part-read-read-again (66)
shelf (36)
cultural-anthropology (23)
culture (19)
poetry (19)
history (16)
read-not-finished (15)
photography (12)
art (10)
coffee-table
(10)
philosophy (10)
lit-lit (9)
pop-sci (9)
sci-fi-sci (8)
antiquity (7)
comedy (7)
essays (7)
pick-up-often (7)
writing (7)
language (6)
pop-math (6)
philosophy (10)
lit-lit (9)
pop-sci (9)
sci-fi-sci (8)
antiquity (7)
comedy (7)
essays (7)
pick-up-often (7)
writing (7)
language (6)
pop-math (6)
“Education is the point at which we decide whether we love the world enough to assume responsibility for it, and by the same token save it from that ruin which except for renewal, except for the coming of the new and the young, would be inevitable. And education, too, is where we decide whether we love our children enough not to expel them from our world and leave them to their own devices, nor to strike from their hands their chance of undertaking something new, something unforeseen by us, but to prepare them in advance for the task of renewing a common world.”
―
―
“A beautiful woman looking at her image in the mirror may very well believe the image is herself. An ugly woman knows it is not.”
― Waiting for God
― Waiting for God
“Fall in love with some activity, and do it! Nobody ever figures out what life is all about, and it doesn't matter. Explore the world. Nearly everything is really interesting if you go into it deeply enough. Work as hard and as much as you want to on the things you like to do the best. Don't think about what you want to be, but what you want to do. Keep up some kind of a minimum with other things so that society doesn't stop you from doing anything at all.”
―
―
“My Name
“I guess you are kind of curious as to who I am, but I am one of those who do not have a regular name. My name depends on you. Just call me whatever is in your mind.
If you are thinking about something that happened a long time ago: Somebody asked you a question and you did not know the answer.
That is my name.
Perhaps it was raining very hard.
That is my name.
Or somebody wanted you to do something. You did it. Then they told you what you did was wrong—“Sorry for the mistake,”—and you had to do something else.
That is my name.
Perhaps it was a game you played when you were a child or something that came idly into your mind when you were old and sitting in a chair near the window.
That is my name.
Or you walked someplace. There were flowers all around.
That is my name.
Perhaps you stared into a river. There as something near you who loved you. They were about to touch you. You could feel this before it happened. Then it happened.
That is my name.”
― In Watermelon Sugar
“I guess you are kind of curious as to who I am, but I am one of those who do not have a regular name. My name depends on you. Just call me whatever is in your mind.
If you are thinking about something that happened a long time ago: Somebody asked you a question and you did not know the answer.
That is my name.
Perhaps it was raining very hard.
That is my name.
Or somebody wanted you to do something. You did it. Then they told you what you did was wrong—“Sorry for the mistake,”—and you had to do something else.
That is my name.
Perhaps it was a game you played when you were a child or something that came idly into your mind when you were old and sitting in a chair near the window.
That is my name.
Or you walked someplace. There were flowers all around.
That is my name.
Perhaps you stared into a river. There as something near you who loved you. They were about to touch you. You could feel this before it happened. Then it happened.
That is my name.”
― In Watermelon Sugar
“Never believe that anti-Semites are completely unaware of the absurdity of their replies. They know that their remarks are frivolous, open to challenge. But they are amusing themselves, for it is their adversary who is obliged to use words responsibly, since he believes in words. The anti-Semites have the right to play. They even like to play with discourse for, by giving ridiculous reasons, they discredit the seriousness of their interlocutors. They delight in acting in bad faith, since they seek not to persuade by sound argument but to intimidate and disconcert. If you press them too closely, they will abruptly fall silent, loftily indicating by some phrase that the time for argument is past.”
―
―
Fil’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Fil’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
More friends…
Polls voted on by Fil
Lists liked by Fil




















































