miércoles, 8 de enero de 2014

Plutarch, Parallel Lives (1st century)

As geographers, Sosius, crowd into the edges of their maps parts of the world which they do not know about, adding notes in the margin to the effect, that beyond this lies nothing but sandy deserts full of wild beasts, unapproachable bogs, Scythian ice, or a frozen sea, so, in this work of mine, in which I have compared the lives of the greatest men with one another, after passing through those periods which probable reasoning can reach to and real history find a footing in, I might very well say of those that are farther off, beyond this there is nothing but prodigies and fictions, the only inhabitants are the poets and inventors of fables; there is no credit, or certainty any farther. Plutarch, Parallel Lives (1st century)

viernes, 15 de noviembre de 2013

Carmen Martín Gaite, El cuento de nunca acabar

¿Un cuaderno de todo? “Yo, antes de esto, ya había tenido en mi vida muchos cuadernos al uso, como es de suponer. Pero, tanto en mis etapas escolares como en las de aprendiz de novelista, les había asignado siempre un menester específico a cada cual. Y la diferencia estaba en que ahora, en éste, se me invitaba y daba permiso a meterlo todo desordenado y revuelto, sin más contemplaciones ni derecho de primacía, según fuera viniendo, como en esos cajones de los cuartos de jugar que no presentan más tope para seguir admitiendo objetos que la circunstancia de estar ya llenos”. Carmen Martín Gaite, El cuento de nunca acabar.

viernes, 18 de octubre de 2013

A quote

“You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.” When it’s time to die, let us not discover that we have never lived. — Henry David Thoreau I promise, dear Mr. Thoreau, I am doing my best to Live, Love & Laugh every day...Make it a great one everybody!

viernes, 4 de octubre de 2013

Ulyses - Tennyson

One equal temper of heroic hearts, Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield. (68–70)

lunes, 20 de mayo de 2013

De finibus bonorum et malorum

The text is derived from sections 1.10.32–3 of Cicero's De finibus bonorum et malorum (On the Boundaries of Goods and Evils, or alternatively [About] The Purposes of Good and Evil).[2] The original passage began: Neque porro quisquam est qui dolorem ipsum quia dolor sit amet, consectetur, adipisci velit (Translation: "Neither is there anyone who loves pain itself since it is pain and thus wants to obtain it"). The original version (with the excerpted items highlighted) appears in Book 1, sections 32–3 (pagination varies by publisher): [32] Sed ut perspiciatis, unde omnis iste natus error sit voluptatem accusantium doloremque laudantium, totam rem aperiam eaque ipsa, quae ab illo inventore veritatis et quasi architecto beatae vitae dicta sunt, explicabo. Nemo enim ipsam voluptatem, quia voluptas sit, aspernatur aut odit aut fugit, sed quia consequuntur magni dolores eos, qui ratione voluptatem sequi nesciunt, neque porro quisquam est, qui dolorem ipsum, quia dolor sit amet, consectetur, adipisci[ng] velit, sed quia non numquam [do] eius modi tempora inci[di]dunt, ut labore et dolore magnam aliquam quaerat voluptatem. Ut enim ad minima veniam, quis nostrum exercitationem ullam corporis suscipit laboriosam, nisi ut aliquid ex ea commodi consequatur? Quis autem vel eum iure reprehenderit, qui in ea voluptate velit esse, quam nihil molestiae consequatur, vel illum, qui dolorem eum fugiat, quo voluptas nulla pariatur? [33] At vero eos et accusamus et iusto odio dignissimos ducimus, qui blanditiis praesentium voluptatum deleniti atque corrupti, quos dolores et quas molestias excepturi sint, obcaecati cupiditate non provident, similique sunt in culpa, qui officia deserunt mollitia animi, id est laborum et dolorum fuga. Et harum quidem rerum facilis est et expedita distinctio. Nam libero tempore, cum soluta nobis est eligendi optio, cumque nihil impedit, quo minus id, quod maxime placeat, facere possimus, omnis voluptas assumenda est, omnis dolor repellendus. Temporibus autem quibusdam et aut officiis debitis aut rerum necessitatibus saepe eveniet, ut et voluptates repudiandae sint et molestiae non recusandae. Itaque earum rerum hic tenetur a sapiente delectus, ut aut reiciendis voluptatibus maiores alias consequatur aut perferendis doloribus asperiores repellat... English translation [edit] H. Rackham's 1914 translation - in the aforementioned Loeb Classical Library edition - with the major source of lorem ipsum highlighted: [32] But I must explain to you how all this mistaken idea of denouncing of a pleasure and praising pain was born and I will give you a complete account of the system, and expound the actual teachings of the great explorer of the truth, the master-builder of human happiness. No one rejects, dislikes, or avoids pleasure itself, because it is pleasure, but because those who do not know how to pursue pleasure rationally encounter consequences that are extremely painful. Nor again is there anyone who loves or pursues or desires to obtain pain of itself, because it is pain, but occasionally circumstances occur in which toil and pain can procure him some great pleasure. To take a trivial example, which of us ever undertakes laborious physical exercise, except to obtain some advantage from it? But who has any right to find fault with a man who chooses to enjoy a pleasure that has no annoying consequences, or one who avoids a pain that produces no resultant pleasure? [33] On the other hand, we denounce with righteous indignation and dislike men who are so beguiled and demoralized by the charms of pleasure of the moment, so blinded by desire, that they cannot foresee the pain and trouble that are bound to ensue; and equal blame belongs to those who fail in their duty through weakness of will, which is the same as saying through shrinking from toil and pain. These cases are perfectly simple and easy to distinguish. In a free hour, when our power of choice is untrammeled and when nothing prevents our being able to do what we like best, every pleasure is to be welcomed and every pain avoided. But in certain circumstances and owing to the claims of duty or the obligations of business it will frequently occur that pleasures have to be repudiated and annoyances accepted. The wise man therefore always holds in these matters to this principle of selection: he rejects pleasures to secure other greater pleasures, or else he endures pains to avoid worse pains.

miércoles, 8 de mayo de 2013

«En me retraçant ces détails, j’en suis à me demander s’ils sont réels, ou bien si je les ai rêvés » Umberto Eco

lunes, 14 de junio de 2010

Quotes from Shadowlands


We can't hold on to things, we have to let them go...

We read to know we are not alone.

I suppose some people would say we love to know we are not alone.

Why love if losing hurts so much. I have no answers anymore only the live I've lived. Twice in that live I've been given the choice. As a boy and as a man. The boy chose safety, the man choses suffering. The pain now is part of the happiness then. That's the deal.

-Movie: Shadowlands, Anthony Hopkins, on the life of C. S. Lewis.