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Blog: Ratiocinativa Topics:Prose, Quotes, Poems Alexa
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layanglicana
Author of books on Calcutta, Delhi and Dar es Salaam, I am now blogging as a lay person about the Church of England and the Anglican Communion. I am also blogging about the effects of World War One on the village of St Mary Bourne, Hampshire.
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Monthly Archives: August 2013
Castles In The Air: Don McLean
And if she asks you why you can tell her that I told you That I’m tired of Castles in the Air I’ve got a dream I want the world to share in castle walls Just leave me to despair … Continue reading
Cheese: Clifton Fadiman
Cheese is milk’s leap towards immortality. Clifton Fadiman Any Number Can Play (1957)
My Last Duchess: Robert Browning
That’s my last Duchess painted on the wall, Looking as if she were alive. I call That piece a wonder, now: Fra Pandolf’s hands Worked busily a day, and there she stands. Will’t please you sit and look at … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Duchess of Ferrara, Fra Pandolf, My Last Duchess, Robert Browning
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Unendurable Gambling: Rebecca West
The only people who can endure gambling are those who have a special neurosis on the subject…or people who have said ‘No’ to the universe, who do not want to find out about things. If one has said ‘Yes’, time … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Casinos, Gambling, Peter Wolfe, Rebecca West, time-wasting
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A Recipe For Living: Stephen Mackenna
One great use of keeping such a record as this is that one learns what blank things most of one’s days are: reading, talking, eating, writing without interest or emotion, the days go by, blank: and it is life that … Continue reading
Moonlight Sonata: Beethoven
Not a song, this time, but the extremely well-known Moonlight Sonata by Beethoven. Somehow, although we know it so well, it never fails to work its magic for me, and I hope you too. The Piano Sonata No. 14 in … Continue reading
Not for That City: Charlotte Mew
Not for that city of the level sun, Its golden streets and glittering gates ablaze— The shadeless, sleepless city of white days, White nights, or nights and days that are as one— We weary, when all is said , all … Continue reading
The Strength Of Ideas: Georges Duhamel
Great ideas have such radiant strength. They cross space and time like avalanches: they carry along with them whatever they touch. They are the only riches that one shares without ever dividing them. Georges Duhamel The Heart’s Domain
Hoarding: Muriel Spark
I am a hoarder of two things: documents and trusted friends. Muriel Spark 1918- 2006 Curriculum Vitae (1992) I knew I hoarded trusted friends but one of the things you discover when you move house is how many scraps of … Continue reading
Professionals and Amateurs: James Agate
A professional is a man who can do his job when he doesn’t feel like it. An amateur is a man who can’t do his job when he does feel like it. James Agate 1877-1947 Diary 16 July 1945