Once, in a dry season, I wrote in large letters across two pages of a notebook that innocence ends when one is stripped of the delusion that one likes oneself. Although now, some years later, I marvel that a mind on the outs with itself should have nonetheless made painstaking record of its every tremor, … More Joan Didion, “On Self-Respect”
Y, desgraciadamente, el dolor crece en el mundo a cada rato, crece a treinta minutos por segundo, paso a paso, y la naturaleza del dolor, es el dolor dos veces y la condición del martirio, carnívora, voraz, es el dolor dos veces y la función de la yerba purísima, el dolor dos veces y el … More Los nueve monstruos
He is excellent. Read his open letter to George M Philip, President of the State University of New York At Albany. • The best way for people to be prepared for the inevitable shock of change is to be as broadly educated as possible, because today’s backwater is often tomorrow’s hot field. And interdisciplinary research, … More Gregory Petsko
Student: Do the Christs in Brazilian churches sport as much blood as the Christs in Mexican churches? Professor Zero: Yes. Student: That is amazing. Professor Zero: Why? Italian Christs have a great deal of blood as well. Bloodiness is a major characteristic of the Mediterranean and Mediterranean based Christ. Student: How marvelous! Professor Zero: It … More In Catholic Culture
I am hardly writing here, because I am writing a novel. I have sent pieces of it to Boulevard, Evergreen Review, Narrative, and Southwestern Review. You can see I am serious. One of our major programs is being cut. That means dismissal of all faculty including tenured faculty. Notice was given Monday. I am looking … More Autumn
Ýr me kero madre a yeruþalayim Mother, I want to go to Jerusalem A pizar las yervas i artarme d’eyas To walk and luxuriate in the grasses En el me arrimo yo I cleave to it En el m’afiguro yo I see myself in it El ez senyor de todo’l mundo It is the lord … More Ýr me kero
On Wednesdays we read for pleasure, and it is a fact that considering my profession I do not read enough new literature or theory, let alone do so for pleasure; it recently occurred to me, however, that reading randomly for pleasure is in fact research although it is too multidirectional to be called “work” in … More Salman Rushdie
The palm at the end of the mind, Beyond the last thought, rises In the bronze distance. A gold-feathered bird Sings in the palm, without human meaning, Without human feeling, a foreign song. You know then that it is not the reason That makes us happy or unhappy. The bird sings. Its feathers shine. The … More Of Mere Being
Si solamente me tocaras el corazón, si solamente pusieras tu boca en mi corazón, tu fina boca, tus dientes, si pusieras tu lengua como una flecha roja allí donde mi corazón polvoriento golpea, si soplaras en mi corazón, cerca del mar, llorando, sonaría con un ruido oscuro, con sonido de ruedas de tren con sueño, … More Barcarola
“We had you, but it was with doubts and then, misgivings.” “We cannot easily afford you, and we also know you are scheming to get our money.” “You are perfect.” “We do not believe you can be competent.” “You are the most intelligent person in the world.” “We love you because we have to, but … More Some of Their Themes in Those Days
coldhearted scientist وداد 