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A selection of quotes from things I have read recently that I found interesting and insightful:
"Hence the fruitlessness of so many lives, seemingly so meritorious, so brilliant and so productive. Without the selfless inwardness which is the condition of inspiration, talent is fruitless, zeal and hard work produce nothing of spiritual value.
Exclusively outward work may be effective in changing outward circumstances, but the worker who wishes to change men's reactions to circumstances - and one can react destructively and even suicidally to the best environment - must begin by purifying his own soul and making it capable of inspiration."
-- The Devils of Loudon by Aldous Huxley
"As readers, we remain in the nursery stage so long as we cannot distinguish between taste and judgment, so long, that is, as the only possible verdicts we can pass on a book are two: this I like; this I don't like.
For an adult reader, the possible verdicts are five: I can see this is good and I like it; I can see this is good but I don't like it; I can see this is good and, though at present I don't like it, I believe that with perseverance I shall come to like it; I can see that this is trash but I like it; I can see that this is trash and I don't like it."
-- A Certain World by W.H. Auden
"Hence the fruitlessness of so many lives, seemingly so meritorious, so brilliant and so productive. Without the selfless inwardness which is the condition of inspiration, talent is fruitless, zeal and hard work produce nothing of spiritual value.
Exclusively outward work may be effective in changing outward circumstances, but the worker who wishes to change men's reactions to circumstances - and one can react destructively and even suicidally to the best environment - must begin by purifying his own soul and making it capable of inspiration."
-- The Devils of Loudon by Aldous Huxley
"As readers, we remain in the nursery stage so long as we cannot distinguish between taste and judgment, so long, that is, as the only possible verdicts we can pass on a book are two: this I like; this I don't like.
For an adult reader, the possible verdicts are five: I can see this is good and I like it; I can see this is good but I don't like it; I can see this is good and, though at present I don't like it, I believe that with perseverance I shall come to like it; I can see that this is trash but I like it; I can see that this is trash and I don't like it."
-- A Certain World by W.H. Auden
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