η απορια του μη ησυχαζειν

Insomniac passing anhypnic nights in writing, translation, music, mathematics, programming and whatever else captures my attention or alleviates agrypnia.

This consists mostly of quotations of things that stand out to me or reflect what's on my mind; occasionally I also post original, often more personal, content as well, which may be found under the "personal" tag. Anything posted under "translations" is also original work and may broadly be taken as personal as well as I seldom tackle a work that does not speak to or for me in some way.

May 21st, 2013 2:26am

Mientras no lo tomen en serio, el que dice la verdad puede vivir un tiempo en una democracia.

Después, la cicuta.

As long as they do not take him seriously, the man who speaks the truth can live for a while in a democracy.

Then, the hemlock.

Nicolás Gómez Dávila, Escolios a un Texto Implícito: Selección, p. 401

Compare, Escolios a un Texto Implícito II, p. 115: “Cicuta (s.f.) = Bebida que en el banquete democrático se reserva al reaccionario.” / “Hemlock (n.) = drink which at a democratic banquet is reserved for the reactionary”.

(Source: don-colacho.blogspot.com)
April 9th, 2013 4:25pm
I live here much in my own manner, that is, alone, for I could not bear the company of my best friend, above a month; there is such a sameness in mankind upon the whole, and they grow so much more disgusting every day, that, were it not for a portion of Ambition, and a conviction that in times like the present we ought to perform our respective duties, I should live here all my life, in unvaried Solitude.
George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron, in a letter to his half-sister, Augusta Leigh, 14 December 1808.

(Source: laudatortemporisacti.blogspot.com)
March 27th, 2013 11:28pm

Bedenklich.—Einen Glauben annehmen, blos weil er Sitte ist,—das heisst doch: unredlich sein, feige sein, faul sein!— Und so wären Unredlichkeit, Feigheit und Faulheit die Voraussetzungen der Sittlichkeit?



Doubtful.—To accept a faith just because it is customary, means to be dishonest, to be cowardly, to be lazy. And do dishonesty, cowardice, and laziness then appear as the presupposition of morality?

Nietzsche, Morgenröthe, buch 2, 101 (Dawn, 1881; Kaufmann translation)
March 22nd, 2013 1:27pm

Every day my heart cries out;
Every night it turns to stone.

The story of my love
is written in blood all over my face.
I ask my Love to read it;
She asks me to ignore it.

Rumi, from Star’s In the Arms of the Beloved
March 22nd, 2013 10:29am

O Love,
I searched both worlds,
but never found joy without you.
I have seen many wonders,
but never one like you.

I pressed my soul’s ear
to countless doors,
but never heard words as sweet as yours.

O Saaqi, sweet sight of my eyes,
I’ve never seen one like you
in all of Persia or Arabia.
Pour the wine that takes me beyond myself,
for this petty existence
brings nothing but fatigue.

[…]

Rest now, my soul,
leave behind your religion
and your empty show of faith.

Remember when you had no religion?
Remember when all you had was Him?

Rumi, translated by Jonathan Star in Rumi: In the Arms of the Beloved

η απορια του μη ησυχαζειν

Insomniac passing anhypnic nights in writing, translation, music, mathematics, programming and whatever else captures my attention or alleviates agrypnia.

This consists mostly of quotations of things that stand out to me or reflect what's on my mind; occasionally I also post original, often more personal, content as well, which may be found under the "personal" tag. Anything posted under "translations" is also original work and may broadly be taken as personal as well as I seldom tackle a work that does not speak to or for me in some way.