Mia Couto’s book is about a man who nearly destroys his family through his fury, both manifest and inarticulate; and about the resilience of his sons in surviving it. I found this simple statement surprising and wise – it takes a lot of strength and...
I loved the unashamed enthusiasm of this statement, Rebanks having dedicated his life to preserving both this rare, tough breed of sheep, and the way of life that goes with it. Also the novel idea (to me), of a breed as a cultural object. The breed is Herdwick and...
A surprising combination of qualities to look for in fine poetry (and other writing). Hard to think of poetry which comes closer to embodying all three than the meticulous, mysterious and fresh-voiced verse of George Herbert. ‘The three qualities I admire in the...
I found this passage striking and moving, perhaps putting its finger on the pulse of much contemporary malaise. It feels a valid and thoughtful statement though you can take issue with certain elements; such as whether pre-modern life was any better for most people,...
This statement by Robert Rubin resonated with me and, I believe, with Susan Cain, author of Quiet (a reassuring read if you share such a sense of doubt and wonder from time to time if you might be ‘introverted’). It reminds me of a note I found on my desk...
One of the pitfalls of globalization is the greater range for damaging stupidity which might formerly have been more easily corralled at a local level.This blunt prognosis is from a thoughtful piece by one of the world’s preeminent astrophysicists, the...
‘A million species of animals and plants are threatened with extinction. Three-quarters of the world’s land and two-thirds of its marine environments have been “significantly altered” by human action.’ I read these lines in The...
George Herbert, one of England’s greatest poets, as well as being a priest and the Orator of Cambridge University (something like today’s corporate spokesperson or public affairs director). He also made a collection of a good thousand proverbs. Here is...
John Donne describes an accomplished woman with a wide-ranging capacity to converse intelligently. I like the spectrum he chose: predestination to slea-silk and, it seems, everything in between.’She knew well how to discourse of all things, from predestination...
In the age of supermodels, it was fun to read that the 17th century Italian painter Artemisia Gentileschi complained to her patron of the difficulties of working with ‘expensive female models’.I wonder if one of the ‘good ones’ she mentions is...
The 17th century Italian painter Artemisia Gentileschi names her price and sticks to it, in a letter to her patron. Incidentally slipping in some slurs on her Neapolitan counterparts. Elsewhere she mentions having had her ideas stolen and questions whether the same...
While for the most part these twin sisters are nothing short of bonkers, I liked when one of them questioned the tyranny of time, speaking with splendid disregard for the sun of day and moon of night. For other examples of their more eccentric exchanges, see how they...
Dante is cautioned to beware those who pass speedy judgement – ‘Anyone and his wife’ who think in witnessing a deed they can securely make assumptions about its karmic consequences. ‘So we should be strict towards All people when they...
These racing monosyllables have the pace and certainty of one who runs, and lives, as if he can only win. I have a certain admiration for such bounding assurance.’But this one ran as if the race were hisTo win, not lose. As his life was, and is.”… e...
