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Just finished Lapham’s Quarterly – Home and here are the things that stood out to me and my thoughts.
“Money is human happiness in abstracto; consequently he who is no longer capable of happiness in concreto sets his whole heart on money.” – Arthur Schopenhauer
I finally finished Lapham’s Quarterly’s Book of Nature yesterday. Work wasn’t too busy, the family was away and I got some serious reading done. Here are my favorites from this edition:
“Here is our long-forgotten family home.
And, having heard now and then the voice of ancestors calling,
Like a grey little forest bird, from far-away centuries,
I fly to you, Belovezhskaya Puschca.”
– Russian ballad by Aleksandra Pakhmutova, 1975
My favorite quotes from Heraclitus:
πολυμαθίη νόον οὐ διδάσκει
Much learning does not teach understanding
ποταμοῖσι τοῖσιν αὐτοῖσιν ἐμϐαίνουσιν, ἕτερα καὶ ἕτερα ὕδατα ἐπιρρεῖ.
Ever-newer waters flow on those who step into the same rivers.
χρὴ γὰρ εὖ μάλα πολλῶν ἴστορας φιλοσόφους ἄνδρας εἶναι
Men that love wisdom must be acquainted with very many things indeed.
τὰ ὄντα ἰέναι τε πάντα καὶ μένειν οὐδέν
All entities move and nothing remains still.
What was scattered gathers.
What was gathered blows apart.
Just as the river where I step is not the same, and is, so I am as I am not.
Reading my Lapham’s Quarterly – Book of Nature, I came across “Main Street” by Nathaniel Hawthorne. As this very blog is a testament, I am fascinated by the passage of time and it seems Mr. Hawthorne sees it in much the same way and was as enthralled by it as I.
Here are my favorite entries from “Main Street” by Nathaniel Hawthorne:
In my daily walks along the principal street of my native town, it has often occurred to me that if its growth from infancy upward, and the vicissitude of characteristic scenes that have passed along this thoroughfare during the more than two centuries of its existence, could be presented to the eye in a shifting panorama, it would be an exceedingly effective method of illustrating the march of time.
I’ve decided I really need to write down my favorite passages from Lapham’s Quarterly; this one comes from the winter 2009 volume – EROS. It is from Benjamin Franklin concerning the advantages of dating/marrying older verses younger women. Seems like sage advice to me:
You should prefer old women to young ones.
Because when Women cease to be handsome, they study to be good. To maintain their Influence over Men, they supply the Diminution of Beauty by an Augmentation of Utility.
Full letter is HERE