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Still struggling through Ulysses, but the more I read it, the more I like Joyce and his unique style. Although I must say I am stumped after listening to The Dubliners sing about fighting against England, and comparing that to the stories I hear about Ireland today. What the fuck happened..?
The Irish should speak only in Irish to each other.
The Irish should speak only in Irish to each other.
Patrick says
The Irish should speak only in Irish to each other.
Which "Irish" is that? In the old days, an "Irish" from County Cork spoke a language different enough from an "Irish" from County Kerry as to be mutually unintelligible.
Found another interesting book at a free bookshelf around here, so I've started that now:
You'll LOVE The History of Rome podcast
AmericanKulak says
You'll LOVE The History of Rome podcast
AmericanKulak
Do you mean this one? https://thehistoryofrome.typepad.com/
Heard about Plutarch many times, so it will be interesting to read his little biographies of many people of ancient history. He's said to be very entertaining.
“Fill your souls with Plutarch, and dare to believe in yourselves when you have faith in his heroes. With a hundred people raised in such an unmodern way, that is, people who have become mature and familiar with the heroic, one could permanently silence the entire noisy pseudo-education of this age.” - Friedrich Nietzsche
Started reading the Arabian Nights tales. The whole book centers around a king who kills the girl he sleeps with every morning so she won't have a chance to cheat on him. Seems like patnetters have more in common with Arabs than many of you might think.
Philippus, during his tribunate, when he proposed the agrarian law (which he readily suffered to be rejected, behaving in the matter with great moderation), while in defending the measure he said many things adapted to cajole the people, did mischief by the ill-meant statement that there were not in the city two thousand men that had any property. It was a criminal utterance, tending to an equal division of property, than which what more ruinous policy can there be? Indeed, states and municipalities were established chiefly to insure the undisturbed possession of private property; for though under the guidance of Nature men were brought together, still it was with the hope of guardianship for their property that they sought the defence of cities. ...
Those, therefore, who desire to be popular, and with that view either attempt agrarian measures,1 that the occupants of the public domains may be driven from their homes, or advocate the remission of debts,2 are undermining the foundations of the state, — in the first place, harmony, which cannot exist when money is taken from some and debts are cancelled for others; in the next place, equity, which is utterly destroyed, if hindrances are laid in the way of men’s keeping their own property. For, as I said above, this belongs to the very idea of a state and a city, that the protection of every man’s property should be certain and not a subject of solicitude. Moreover, by measures thus ruinous to the state men do not gain the favor that they anticipate. He from whom property is taken becomes their enemy. He to whom it is given conceals his desire to receive it, and especially in the case of debt cancelled, hides his joy, lest he may be suspected of having been insolvent. On the other hand, he who is wronged remembers it, and keeps his grievance in full sight.1 Nor if those to whom property is wrongfully given are more numerous than those from whom it has been unjustly taken, are they therefore possessed of more influence; for these matters are determined, not by number, but by weight. ...
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- my dad's old college English book (always felt I needed to improve my grammar)
- Candide by Voltaire
- Beyond Good and Evil by Nietzsche
- The Politics by Aristotle
Now I'm reading The Prince by Machiavelli, and really enjoying it. One tip: before invading, look for minorities who will help you because they resent the traditional rulers in their own country. They may in fact invite you in to help them overthrow their own country. This makes me think that the Chinese have read The Prince and are using BLM, gays, and militant feminism as allies in their fight against America.