Is there anything more delightful on this earth then a garage sale that has only books? I certainly can't think of many things better. The other day I spent a good hour and a half sorting through hundreds of classics being sold for 1 and $2. I thought I hit the lottery, and I came home with handfuls of greek lit. and the book I'm currently reading, Machiavelli's "The Prince." What a tragedy it is that no one reads anymore. I think it is terribly sad that some of the most eloquent and beautiful things ever written will never be read. This is why it is impossible for me to consider as a friend or otherwise, anyone who doesn't read at their leisure. So, read more, write more, stretch that mind of yours! The mind is a terrible thing to waste.......
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amen :)
ReplyDeleteHa! did you know that "the Prince" is actually a work of satire through sarcasm? Machiavelli wrote it as a work of mock advice after he was expelled and the democratic government was taken over by a single family and turned into a autocracy.
ReplyDeletehe was actually a big believer in democracy and the rule of the people rather than the rule of one. Just thought that would be helpful to keep in mind while reading it.
Have you read it Andy? Mock advice or not, it is read all over the world by politicians and the advice therein is hardly unsound. The United States Naval Academy has its students read it. Here is an excerpt I find especially true:
ReplyDelete"Men must be either pampered or crushed, because they can get revenge for small injuries but not for fatal ones. So any injury a prince does a man should be of such a kind that there is no fear of revenge."
and here is another (referring to the romans):
"They never, to avoid a war, allowed them to go unchecked, because they knew that there is no avoiding a war; it can only be postponed to the advantage of others."
And if you get tired of reading you can take a break with some oversized coffee table books! Love'em, LOL!!
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