I am half way through rereading Augustus, a suberb novel by John Williams, author of the equally brilliant Stoner and Butcher’s Crossing, and noticed this particularly eloquent passage that I had overlooked the first time through. The quote is taken from a fictionalised 12BC letter from the political advisor Gaius Cilnius Maecenas to Titus Livius and…
Tag: Philosophy
Happy Sunday
I spotted this on the awning of an underground (literally) cocktail bar in East London. I can’t tell if it’s trying to persuade passersby to part with their money over expensive drinks or attempting to offer some kind of pop-philosophical critique of free will in e modern age. You’d think Kierkegaard has a bar tab…
Blessed are the forgetful
“There is no teaching, but only recollection” – Socrates Last year I saw a stand-up comedian who, after riffing for 10 minutes on his recent travels across the United States, concluded his set (which was admittedly quite low on laughs) by idiomatically declaring to the half-cut Friday night audience that “when you experience different cultures,…
Under Pressure
The bookshelf above my bed is now beyond overloaded and I’m quite certain that it’s going to collapse any day now. We’re at breaking point. One of the screws on the bottom left corner is looking particularly dodgy, and despite my best efforts I can’t get the damn thing tightened back into the wall. I…