Jane Austen:
“There is one thing, Emma, which a man can always do, if he chooses, and that is, his duty; not by manœuvering and finessing, but by vigour and resolution.
Yes, here’s another particularly ambitious reading list for, of all people, a medical student. And of course an insufferable essay to accompany it.
I think myself to be not so much in danger of …
Picture a woman who has just given birth prematurely. Her baby boy was born by cesarean section, and now she has a surgical incision that needs to heal. Her son, who is in the …
Thomas Browne, Urne-Buriall:
Happy are they whom privacy makes innocent, who deal so with men in this world, that they are not afraid to meet them in the next, who when they dye, make no commotion among the dead
Emma Woodhouse to Harriet Smith:
“I lay it down as a general rule, Harriet, that if a woman doubts as to whether she should accept a man or not, she certainly ought to refuse him. If she can hesitate as to ‘Yes,’ she ought to say ‘No’ directly. It is not a state to be safely entered into with doubtful feelings, with half a heart. I thought it my duty as a friend, and older than yourself, to say thus much to you. But do not imagine that I want to influence you.”
Really?
Thomas Browne:
There is no man alone, because every man is a Microcosme, and carries the whole world about him; Nunquam minus solus quam cum solus, though it bee the Apophthegme of a wise man, is yet …
Here is Adorno in the fragment titled “Memento”:
A first precaution for writers: in every text, every piece, every paragraph to check whether the central motif stands out clearly enough. Anyone wishing to express something is so carried away by it that he ceases to reflect on it. Too close to his intention, “in his thoughts,”he forgets to say what he wants to say.
From Brian Dillons Essayism 📝📚
Solitude is refreshing. It strengthens memory, sharpens awareness, and spurs creativity. It makes us calmer, more attentive, clearer headed. Most important of all, it relieves the pressure of conformity. It gives us the space we need to discover the deepest sources of passion, enjoyment, and fulfillment in our lives. Being alone frees us to be ourselves—and that makes us better company when we rejoin the crowd.
Nicholas Carr, foreword for Solitude by Michael Harris