The Bed of Procrustes : Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms - Nassim Nicholas Taleb

Reading Logs :

This is my very first book of Nassim Nicholas Taleb. His anecdotes are quite  interesting. Here I'm sharing few of my favourite lines from the book.

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From "The Bed of Procrustes" By Nassim Nicholas Taleb : 

To bankrupt a fool, give him information.

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Academia is to knowledge what prostitution is to love; close enough on the surface but, to the nonsucker, not exactly the same thing.*

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In science you need to understand the world; in business you need others to misunderstand it.

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I suspect that they put Socrates to death because there is something terribly unattractive, alienating, and nonhuman in thinking with too much clarity.

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Modernity’s double punishment is to make us both age prematurely and live longer.

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An erudite is someone who displays less than he knows; a journalist or consultant, the opposite.

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The best revenge on a liar is to convince him that you believe what he said.

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They will envy you for your success, for your wealth, for your intelligence, for your looks, for your status—but rarely for your wisdom.

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Most of what they call humility is successfully disguised arrogance.

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If you want people to read a book, tell them it is overrated.

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You never win an argument until they attack your person.

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The most painful moments are not those we spend with uninteresting people; rather, they are those spent with uninteresting people trying hard to be interesting.

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Hatred is love with a typo somewhere in the computer code, correctable but very hard to find.

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Hatred is much harder to fake than love. You hear of fake love; never of fake hate.

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The opposite of manliness isn’t cowardice; it’s technology.

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Usually, what we call a “good listener” is someone with skillfully polished indifference.

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People reserve standard compliments for those who do not threaten their pride; the others they often praise by calling “arrogant.”

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When she shouts that what you did was unforgivable, she has already started to forgive you.

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Most people fear being without audiovisual stimulation because they are too repetitive when they think and imagine things on their own.

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Some people are only funny when they try to be serious.

The more loving one

Was reading a poetry anthology and stumbled upon this beautiful poem by Auden on this winter morning. People usually want to be relevant either in society or in other's lives. They want people to remember them. But you know what !! Not being relevant is always good. It gives you a lot of space and freedom. Being relevant comes with rules, expectations. And you need to obey, follow and act according to those terms. It ties you down.

Einstein said it best, “If you want to live a happy life, tie it to a goal, not to people or things." Love them all. Give your love freely. But do not let them take you for  granted and never let them put you in a box. Whether they deserve it or not, be the more loving one :) Perhaps it is this essential message the poem is conveying.

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The More Loving One By W. H. Auden - 1907-1973

Looking up at the stars, I know quite well
That, for all they care, I can go to hell,
But on earth indifference is the least
We have to dread from man or beast.

How should we like it were stars to burn
With a passion for us we could not return?
If equal affection cannot be,
Let the more loving one be me.

Admirer as I think I am
Of stars that do not give a damn,
I cannot, now I see them, say
I missed one terribly all day.

Were all stars to disappear or die,
I should learn to look at an empty sky
And feel its total dark sublime,
Though this might take me a little time.

Reputation

“Her reputation for reading a great deal hung about her like the cloudy envelope of a goddess in an epic.” ― Henry James.

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Goddess of Love or Poetess of Bliss ??

What should I call her !!! Goddess of love or Poetess of bliss !!!! 

Every time I read her, she sounds like an interesting new acquaintance. And her naughty witty lines brings a smile to my lips. Yes, Szymborska again. :)

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"They’re both convinced
that a sudden passion joined them.
Such certainty is beautiful,
but uncertainty is more beautiful still."
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"Every beginning
is only a sequel, after all,
and the book of events
is always open halfway through."

----- Love at First Sight By Wislawa Szymborska.

Reader as Corporate Commodity

There was a time when I thought I'd better quit my English blogosphere and started doing my own thing. Too much marketing involvement and capitalistic environment forced me to do so. Being an ardent reader who reads for pleasure alone, I refused to be their corporate commodity. Of course I was not alone, there were many other fellow bloggers who realized these marketing strategies and safely kept their distance from the ongoing circus.

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After that I tried to be part of some Telugu literary groups but they do not match my reading tastes. My reading patterns are quite different from them. Again, I realized I do not belong there either. These days, the whole Telugu literary world has transformed into a marketing commodity. People made reading / writing as a corporate circus. Of course there are few others who vibe with my literary tastes perfectly. And I enjoy being around them. :) They are misfits like me, they refuse to fit into a box, do not allow the world to dictate what they are supposed to do. Simply, they refuse to participate in the ongoing Literary marketing social media circus. Just like me. 

But I'll tell you one thing,  When you do not belong you feel a sense of freedom. You are on your own, doing your own thing. This feeling was not new, in fact it was a very familiar feeling for me. I felt the same when I started my blog ,when I started reading for pleasure, when I was not competing, when I was writing whatever I want, when I was simply living my life without any distractions or pressures, when I quit English blogosphere. :) 

This year end is another mile stone in my blogging journey. I quite the Telugu blogosphere now, no announcements though, If I say that, people will say , "Tell us madam ? When were you actually part of Telugu groups in the first place ?? " :))))) :P :P.

So I'm free again :) :) But I feel sad for people who are unaware that they're turned into marketing commodities. They've made pleasurable hobbies  i.e reading/ writing into corporate stunts. How sad !!!

People are pros at taking away the pleasure out of everything.

Mishima Again

I picked up another work by Mishima after 'Star'. I loved these lines from that work so much so that I would like to throw them out in the universe to turn them into the star dust...I know, such a dope !!! :P :P  But we book nerds are weird, can't help it. :) 

"But the girl was anything but dreaming. She wove her cloth with steady focus and fastidious attention.  Nobody was watching. There was no way my photograph was looking back at her. But there I was, under her voracious gaze! Through this sort of exchange, a man and woman can consummate a pure and timeless intimacy without ever actually meeting. In some deserted square, in the middle of a sunny day — it would manifest and consummate, without either of us ever knowing. Real love always plays out at a distance." ---- From Star By Yukio Mishima.

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Beautiful way to end the day

Curling up in the cozy blankets and reading Mr. Seth's beautiful poems. Being a literature lover, words like these makes me tremendously happy. For people like me, these simple pleasures are like treasures. Here is another lovely poem by the poet.

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Across by Vikram Seth :

Across these miles I wish you well.

May nothing haunt your heart but sleep.

May you not sense what I don't tell.

May you not dream, or doubt, or weep.

May what my pen this peaceless day

Writes on this page not reach your view

Till its deferred print lets you say

It speaks to someone else than you.

Reading in bed

Nowadays reading Vikram Seth's poems before going to bed has become my favourite habit. These poems from his poetry collection " All you who sleep tonight" were written in very simple language yet they are so beautiful and profound.

This is the poem I'm reading now. I loved it.

All you who sleep tonight : By Vikram Seth

All you who sleep tonight 

Far from the ones you love,

No hands to left or right,

And emptiness above –

Know that you aren’t alone.

The whole world shares your tears,

Some for two nights or one,

And some for all their years.

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You come too

Echoing Rilke's words in these wordless quiet  moments : 

"Understand I will quietly slip away from the noisy crowd when I see the pale stars rising, blooming over the oaks.

I'll pursue the solitary pathways of the twilight meadows with only this one dream. 

You come too.'

--- Rainer Maria Rilke.

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Shall I compare thee to a summer's day ?

With many siblings at home, performing plays at leisure time is one of the significant pastime in Tagore's childhood, so I read somewhere. Ahh, what is so great about it ? Even introverts like us can have such fun, in a slightly different way ofcourse. It's great fun to read Shakespeare plays aloud. Shakespearian words possess a certain uniqueness of  sound, rhythm and cadence. After reading few of his sonnets now I moved on to his plays. I would like to read them all by the end of this year. There are some books by particular publishing houses that provide detailed analysis and meanings along with the text which made my reading easy-peasy. Here are few interesting lines from 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'.

The course of true love never did run smooth.

“ Lovers and madmen have such seething brains,

Such shaping fantasies, that apprehend

More than cool reason ever comprehends.

The lunatic, the lover and the poet

Are of imagination all compact:

One sees more devils than vast hell can hold,

That is, the madman: the lover, all as frantic,

Sees Helen's beauty in a brow of Egypt:

The poet's eye, in fine frenzy rolling,

Doth glance from heaven to earth, from earth to heaven;

And as imagination bodies forth

The forms of things unknown, the poet's pen

Turns them to shapes and gives to airy nothing

A local habitation and a name. ”

"Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind, 

And therefore is winged Cupid painted blind." 

― William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream

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Reading Kierkegaard

There is a Mark Twain quote I usually mention several times : "Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect." I follow it like a gospel all my life.

I take a break from Social media once in a while to sort out things. One needs certain kind of mood and solitude to read certain authors. For example you cannot read authors like Kierkegaard, Calasso or Idries Shah while scrolling second-rated stuff on social media. These kind of authors demand a lot of attention and certain solitude from you. If you cannot meet those norms their company turns out to be futile. I'm constantly torn between being social and being in my own space because I enjoy both. Some days I talk to people all day long, while some days I need to be in my own space, unbothered.

Currently reading Kierkegaard, his writing is so immersive.

Aren't people absurd! They never use the freedoms they do have but demand those they don't have; they have freedom of thought, they demand freedom of speech. 

Were I to wish for anything I would not wish for wealth and power, but for the passion of the possible, that eye which everywhere, ever young, ever burning, sees possibility. Pleasure disappoints, not possibility.

It is painful to be in the wrong, and the more painful the more often one is so, and it is edifying to be in the wrong and the more edifying the more one is so! This is, indeed, a contradiction. How can it be explained but by the fact that in the one case you are forced to recognize what you want to recognize in the other? But if the recognitions are nevertheless not the same, how can one’s wanting or not wanting help? How can this be explained but by the fact that in the one case you loved and in the other you did not — in other words, that in one case you found yourself in an infinite relationship to a person, in another case in a finite relationship?

So wanting to be in the wrong expresses an infinite relationship, and wanting to be in the right expresses a finite relationship! So the edifying, then, is to be always wrong, for only the infinite improves and educates us, the finite does not!

 If you marry, you will regret it; if you do not marry, you will also regret it; if you marry or if you do not marry, you will regret both; whether you marry or you do not marry, you will regret both. Laugh at the world’s follies, you will regret it; weep over them, you will also regret it; if you laugh at the world’s follies or if you weep over them, you will regret both; whether you laugh at the world’s follies or you weep over them, you will regret both. Believe a girl, you will regret it; if you do not believe her, you will also regret it; if you believe a girl or you do not believe her, you will regret both; whether you believe a girl or you do not believe her, you will regret both. If you hang yourself, you will regret it; if you do not hang yourself, you will regret it; if you hang yourself or you do not hang yourself, you will regret both; whether you hang yourself or you do not hang yourself, you will regret both. This, gentlemen, is the sum of all practical wisdom.

- From Either/Or : Kierkegaard.

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Time spent with kids is time spent with God

A couple of days of pure bliss. Spent this weekend with my 6 months old niece and the whole time I just couldn't take my eyes off her. With her milky little mouth, soft cheeks, little cute face and all smiles...she truely is a bundle of joy. With our family blessed with all baby boys in recent times, she is the only girl so far.

The time spent with her made me remember the popular Tagore quote. 'Every child comes with the message that God is not yet discouraged of man.' 

Here is a beautiful poem of Shel Silverstein on this poetry day.

"Listen to the Musn'ts" by Shel Silverstein :

Listen to the MUSTN'TS, child,
Listen to the DON'TS
Listen to the SHOULDN'TS
The IMPOSSIBLES, the WON'T'S
Listen to the NEVER HAVES
Then listen close to me-

Anything can happen, child,
ANYTHING can be.

The world will tell you what you can, can't and shouldn't do. Listen to them all, but leave all those voices aside, listen to your inner voice alone and chase your dreams. 

Copyright A Homemaker's Utopia

A Booknerd's Dreams

Mellow weather inspires you to think about your dreams. :) 

After years of reading I wonder where does it all end ? Moreover my choice in books is becoming quite narrow as I'm being more picky these days. One bad book means a lot of wasted time, Isn't it ? 

People say "We will judge you by your book shelf". I find it amusing because in my case they simply cannot. If you observe my reading patterns, they are a mess. (Ofcourse they can come to a conclusion that I'm a beautiful mess :P) My reading is not confined to one thing or genre. 'Variety' is my favourite genre. Anyways I digress.

My fellow booknerds came up with few suggestions to channelize my reading in a proper way. I loved one particular proposal which is too tempting (I'm afraid I'll end up with that). In addition to that I tried to entertain few more possible ideas. I know enough psychology and philosophy for one life, So enough of that.

* I made a list of must read works in this life time. (But it will limit the possibility of exploring. I do no like it much.)

* Reading the whole classic Russian literature. (You can only try. Bless your soul :P )

* Reading every word that Borges had ever written. (Let's do it, Now.. screaming my twin from inside :)) )

* Reading all the short stories in Fantastic fiction. (Hmmmm !!! Ummmm !!! )

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Listening to Professor Borges Lecture

Okay I came too far to withdraw. I'm stuck with this old man now. When you are listening to this man, you cannot just interrupt him and say, "Hey I have another book waiting for me to read Sir. Lets catch up later." No, nada... There is no way out of it when you found yourself stuck neck-deep in his fantasy world.

This is something interesting :) 

“There is a Hindu school of philosophy that says that we are not the actors in our lives, but rather the spectators, and this is illustrated using the metaphor of a dancer. These days, maybe it would be better to say an actor. A spectator sees a dancer or an actor, or, if you prefer, reads a novel, and ends up identifying with one of the characters who is there in front of him. This is what those Hindu thinkers before the fifth century said. And the same thing happens with us. I, for example, was born the same day as Jorge Luis Borges, exactly the same day. I have seen him be ridiculous in some situations, pathetic in others. And, as I have always had him in front of me, I have ended up identifying with him.”

"I have preferred to teach my students not English literature but my love for certain authors, or, even better, certain pages, or even better than that, certain lines. One falls in love with a line, then with a page, then with an author. Well, why not? It is a beautiful process."

― Jorge Luis Borges, Professor Borges: A Course on English Literature

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Summer Evenings

The sunny days are here. It's our first summer in the city. We are so used to the moderately cold climate of the mountains, perhaps it will take some time for us to adjust to the hot weather. It's 37 degrees already and the ACs started making noise. However the sunny mornings are slowly dissolving into beautiful golden yellow evenings. Waiting for the arrival of Jasmines and mangoes. :) 

One of the best ways to spend these beautiful summer evenings is reading poetry.

Here is a beautiful poem 'The Dream' By John Donne.

Dear love, for nothing less than thee

Would I have broke this happy dream;

            It was a theme

For reason, much too strong for fantasy,

Therefore thou wak'd'st me wisely; yet

My dream thou brok'st not, but continued'st it.

Thou art so true that thoughts of thee suffice

To make dreams truths, and fables histories;

Enter these arms, for since thou thought'st it best,

Not to dream all my dream, let's act the rest.

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Wordless

“She wasn't doing a thing that I could see, except standing there leaning on the balcony railing, holding the universe together.” ― J.D. Salinger.

Just stumbled upon these lines while reading a short story "A Girl I Knew" by J.D. Salinger. I read those lines a couple of times, How sweet !! How very romantic. :) Where are all these sensible writers now !!

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Simple joys of everyday life

Hello universe.....Woke up just now, after having a hot cup of coffee I'm sitting here to write this post. Still yawning/stretching my body and reminiscing over  yesterday's get together moments with our closed ones. Spent our Saturday with our close family. I gifted my sis few art supplies, she loved it. She enjoys painting, sketching and poetry just like me. And....she is a poetess too. How beautiful it is to make someone happy !! No need of great gestures but more often than not it's the little things we do for people that really counts, the simple things that make people happy. Isn't it ? She also cooks very well and a great administrator too when it comes to doing things. I learnt a lot from her, still learning.

When interacting with people we need not show off our brains, all we need to show them is that we care, being just another human being. It irks me when people show off their intelligence all the time like they are constantly competing with people.  Somehow I do not enjoy the company of know-it-alls (even though they are) and superficial people much. I believe in application of knowledge and wisdom in our lives rather than making it a grandiose spectacle all the time.

I have to finish painting my balcony metal shelf today. I chose yellow, it looks good. A little bit of gardening and purchases, then we'll go exploring the city. 

Today reminds me of this beautiful poem about simple life by Anna Akhmatova.

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Somewhere there is a simple life by Anna Akhmatova :

Somewhere there is a simple life and a world,
Transparent, warm and joyful. . .
There at evening a neighbor talks with a girl
Across the fence, and only the bees can hear
This most tender murmuring of all.

But we live ceremoniously and with difficulty
And we observe the rites of our bitter meetings,
When suddenly the reckless wind
Breaks off a sentence just begun -

But not for anything would we exchange this splendid
Granite city of fame and calamity,
The wide rivers of glistening ice,
The sunless, gloomy gardens,
And, barely audible, the Muse's voice.

----- Anna Akhmatova.

A Manifesto

Found this in an illustration book today. I read Susan Cain's 'Quiet' a long time ago. Now in love with this new book too. The illustrations are done by none other than our Grant Snyder.

Off guard

Have you ever felt like this ? You quietly opened the book with a bit of sneaky disposition, carefully turning the pages tiptoed into his world, yet the author caught you off guard ? 

Was reading Cummings today and he breached  the boundaries with these beautiful verses.

Lady,

I will touch you with my mind.

Touch you and touch and touch

until you give me suddenly a smile,

shyly obscene

(lady I will touch you with my mind).

Touch you, that is all,

lightly and you utterly will

become with infinite care

the poem which I do not write.

— e.e. cummings.

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Sonnet of the day

Then happy I, that love and am beloved....

All you can do with something like this is, read and read and read and rejoice :) 

Sonnet 25: 'Let those who are in favour with their stars' By William Shakespeare

Margaret Hale from North and South - Image Courtesy Google

Let those who are in favour with their stars

Of public honour and proud titles boast,

Whilst I, whom fortune of such triumph bars,

Unlook'd for joy in that I honour most.

Great princes' favourites their fair leaves spread

But as the marigold at the sun's eye,

And in themselves their pride lies buried,

For at a frown they in their glory die.

The painful warrior famoused for fight,

After a thousand victories once foil'd,

Is from the book of honour razed quite,

And all the rest forgot for which he toil'd:

Then happy I, that love and am beloved

Where I may not remove nor be removed.