ClimbingSky

Why Baseball, Books, and the Grateful Dead matter


QUOTATIONS

  • “If…the machine of government…is of such a nature that it requires you to be the agent of injustice to another, then, I say, break the law.” ~ Henry David Thoreau Read more

  • Supper was laid. He swung the curtain over the window. There was a bowl of freesias and scarlet anemones on the table. She bent to them. Still touching them with her finger-tips, she looked up at him, saying: “Aren’t they beautiful?” “Yes,” he said. “What will you drink — coffee?” “I should like it,” she… Read more

  • “Civil disobedience becomes a sacred duty when the state becomes lawless or corrupt. ~ Mahatma Gandhi Read more

  • When they came to town, Madame went to bed for two hours. When she got up, she sent for the porter, and gave him orders not to admit any one. She did not make any toilette. She sat down to dinner, but only tasted a little soup, and went away directly. Her coffee was brought… Read more

  • FOOD FOR THOUGHT: Noam Chomsky

    “It’s ridiculous to talk about freedom in a society dominated by huge corporations. What kind of freedom is there inside a corporation? They’re totalitarian institutions. You take orders from above and maybe give them to people below you. There’s about as much freedom as under Stalinism.” ~Noam Chomsky Read more

  • I dispatched my dinner as soon as possible. The dessert was scarcely served, when the infernal Volanges, probably with a design to prejudice me, got up to follow the charming woman. I foresaw this project, but disappointed her. I feigned to take this particular motion for a general one; and rising at the same time,… Read more

  • FOOD FOR THOUGHT: Erich Fromm

    “When Fascism came into power, most people were unprepared, both theoretically and practically. They were unable to believe that man could exhibit such propensities for evil, such lust for power, such disregard for the rights of the weak, or such yearning for submission. Only a few had been aware of the rumbling of the volcano… Read more

  • Throwback Thursdays” at ClimbingSky feature posts I wrote over a 15 year period for various blogs. This was first posted on July 24, 2016 This time of year we notice the days growing shorter already in the North Country. Since I am up everyday between 5:00 and 5:30, the later and later sunrises become more noticeable every… Read more

  • LITERARY COFFEE: James Joyce

    — Now touching a cup of coffee, Mr Bloom ventured to plausibly suggest to break the ice, it occurs to me you ought to sample something in the shape of solid food, say, a roll of some description. Accordingly his first act was with characteristic SANGFROID to order these commodities quietly. ~ James Joyce. Ulysses. Read more

  • On the Art of Rereading

    “Rereading, not reading, is what counts,” ~ Jorge Luis Borges.  “When you reread a classic, you do not see more in the book than you did before; you see more in you than there was before,” ~ Cliff Fadiman.  ““If a book isn’t worth reading over and over again, it isn’t worth reading at all.” ~… Read more