Prometeu

Bertrand Russell in great admiration and respect of philosopher Baruch Spinoza whom he calls ”... one of the wisest of men and who lived consistently in accordance with his own wisdom.”

”Spinoza, who was one of the wisest of men and who lived consistently in accordance with his own wisdom, advised men to view passing events ‘under the aspect of eternity’. Those who can learn to do this will find a painful present much more bearable than it would otherwise be. They can see it as a passing moment—a discord to be resolved, a tunnel to be traversed. The small child who has hurt himself weeps as if the world contained nothing but sorrow, because his mind is confined to the present.

A man who has learned wisdom from Spinoza can see even a lifetime of suffering as a passing moment in the life of humanity. And the human race itself, from its obscure beginning to its unknown end, is only a minute episode in the life of the universe.

What may be happening elsewhere we do not know, but it is improbable that the universe contains nothing better than ourselves. With increase of wisdom our thoughts acquire a wider scope both in space and in time. The child lives in the minute, the boy in the day, the instinctive man in the year. The man imbued with history lives in the epoch. Spinoza would have us live not in the minute, the day, the year or the epoch but in eternity. Those who learn to do this will find that it takes away the frantic quality of misfortune and prevents the trend towards madness that comes with overwhelming disaster.

Spinoza spent the last day of his life telling cheerful anecdotes to his host. He had written: ‘The wise man thinks less about death than about anything else’, and he carried out this precept when it came to his own death.”

— Bertrand Russell, The New York Times Magazine, 3 September 1950

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Background: Baruch Spinoza (4 November 1632 – 21 February 1677)

Baruch Spinoza was a Dutch philosopher of Sephardic Jewish origin and whose occupation was a humble lens grinder. The breadth and importance of Spinoza's work was not fully realized until many years after his death. By laying the groundwork for the 18th-century Enlightenment and modern biblical criticism, including modern conceptions of the self and, arguably, the universe, he came to be considered one of the great rationalists of 17th-century philosophy. Inspired by the groundbreaking ideas of René Descartes, Spinoza can rightfully lay claim as a leading figure of the Dutch Golden Age. His magnum opus, the posthumous Ethics, in which he opposed Descartes' mind–body dualism, has earned him recognition as one of Western philosophy's most important thinkers. Philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (G.W.F. Hegel) said of all contemporary philosophers, "You are either a Spinozist or not a philosopher at all."

Spinoza argued that God exists yet is abstract and impersonal. He claimed that everything is a derivative of God, interconnected with all of existence. Although humans only experience thought and extension, what happens to one aspect of existence will still affect others. Thus, Spinozism teaches a form of determinism and ecology and supports this as a basis for morality. Spinoza was often considered to be an atheist because he used the word "God" (Deus) to signify a concept that was different from that of traditional Judeo–Christian-Islamic monotheism. Thus, Spinoza's cool, indifferent God is the antithesis to the concept of an anthropomorphic, fatherly deity who cares about humanity.

”If I had as clear an idea of ghosts, as I have of a triangle or a circle, I should not in the least hesitate to affirm that they had been created by God; but as the idea I possess of them is just like the ideas, which my imagination forms of harpies, gryphons, hydras, &c., I cannot consider them as anything but dreams, which differ from God as totally as that which is not differs from that which is.”

— Baruch Spinoza, Letter to Hugo Boxel (October 1674) The Chief Works of Benedict de Spinoza (1891) Tr. R. H. M. Elwes, Vol. 2, Letter 58

Image: Detail from a portrait of a man (thought to be Baruch Spinoza) private collection.

The book taught me that by reading, I could live more intensely. It could give me back the sight I had lost. For this reason, a book should present itself as a challenge, not as a pastime. It is also why, when we read a truly great book, the book doesn't end on the last page. The book is only one phase in a lifelong dialogue between reader and author. The book remains alive through the conversations it has with other books, both those that preceded it and those that follow it. The beauty of reading is that we never have to be finished with any one book; we can always return to it, and discover new things.

— Umberto Eco, The Name of the Rose

Cervantes' Don Quixote was first published on on this day in 1605. It would become one of the best-loved and most frequently illustrated books in the history of literature. In her essay "Picturing Don Quixote" Rachel Schmidt explores how the varying approaches to illustrating the tale have reflected and impacted its reading through the centuries: http://buff.ly/2jqTQu3

(Pictured here: Gustave Doré’s depiction of Don Quixote amid his fantasies of chilvaric romance, the frontispiece to the 1863 Paris Hachette edition)

And now let us believe in a long year that is given to us, new, untouched, full of things that have never been, full of work that has never been done, full of tasks, claims, and demands; and let us see that we learn to take it without letting fall too much of what it has to bestow upon those who demand of it necessary, serious, and great things.

— Rainer Maria Rilke

“Të lexosh nuk do të thotë të shfletosh faqet e librit. Të lexosh do të thotë të gjesh në libër frazat apo pjesët që ia vlejnë të rilexohen, por njëkohësisht edhe të vrasësh mendjen se si t’i përfshish ato në një kontekst më të gjerë, si t’i zhvillosh idetë e tua. Nuk ia vlen të lexosh një libër thjesht duke ndjekur me sy rreshtat e tij, përmbajtjen e të cilave do ta harrosh pas dhjetë minutash. Leximi i librit është ushtrim intelektual, i cili na nxit mendimin, na nxit dëshirën për të bërë pyetje, na nxit imagjinatën.”

— Noam Chomsky

Giuha e nji komit s’kaa t'ndalun, as nuk mûnd t'ndalet kurr. Sa münd t'mêndohet dielli pa dritè, aq mund t'mêndohet komi pa giuhë.
..âsht nji gjãa sênd qi nuk mûnd t'blehet, nuk sh*tet e nuk ndrrohet; nji sênd âsht, qi do t'ruhet si nji gur i çmue, do t’ruhet si nji dhântii e posaçme e Perendîis e si nji trashigim i t'parvet tone... do t'ruhet si drita e synit. Kjo dhânti... âsht giuha shqype.

— At Shtjefen Gjeçovi

Nji nieri që punon bahçen e vet, sikur desht Volteri.
Kush e çmon që ka muzikë përmbi dhé.
Kush shendohet kur gjen nji rranjë fjalet.
Dy rrogtarë në nji kafehane të jugut që luejnë shah pa bza.
Vegshari që paramendon nji ngjyrë e nji trajtë.
Tipografi që e vendon mirë kët' faqe, që ndojherë nuk ia kande.
Grueja e burri që këndojnë tercetin e mbramë të nji kange.
Kush fërkon nji kafshë të fjetun.
Kush përligj ose përpjeket me përligjë nji ligësi që i kanë ba.
Kush e çmon që ka Stevenson përmbi dhé.
Kush parapëlqen që të tjerët me pasë të drejtë.
Këta persona, që injorohen, po e pshtojnë botën.

Borges, Los justos / Të drejtët

A rare view from the 3rd level of J. Pierpont Morgan’s library, snapped by Reader Services Librarian Polly Cancro (), while she and Head of Reader Services Maria Molestina () reshelved rare books in the cabinets of the historic library.​​​​​​​​
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This usually happens when the museum is closed, but you might get lucky and see it in action on your next visit! While the balconies are used by our staff regularly to access collection objects, these spaces are off limits to visitors.​​​​​​​​
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Learn more about the Reading Room and how you can visit at the link in our bio.​​​​​​​​
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18th century device that allowed researchers to work/read up to 8 open books at a time.

Jorge Luis Borges - Një lexues
Përktheu Erion Karabolli

Le të mburren të tjerët për faqet që kanë shkruar;
unë krenohem për ato që kam lexuar.
Mund të mos kem qenë një filolog,
mund të mos kem shqyrtuar animet, mënyrat, shndërrimin e mundimshëm të shkronjave,
d-ja që ngurtësohet në t-ë,
barasvlerën e g-së dhe k-së,
por gjatë viteve të mi kam ushtruar
pasionin për gjuhën.
Netët e mia janë mbushur me Virgjilin;
ta kem ditur dhe ta kem harruar latinishten
është një zotërim, sepse harresa
është një prej formave të kujtesës, bodrumi i saj i mugët, fytyra tjetër e fshehtë e monedhës.
Kur në sytë e mi u fshinë
të zbrazëtat pamje të dashura,
fytyrat dhe faqja,
iu përkushtova studimit të gjuhës së hekurit
që përdorën të vjetrit e mi për të kënduar
shpatat dhe vetmit,
e tani, nëpërmjet shtatë shekujsh,
që nga Thule-ja e Fundit,
më mbërrin zëri yt, Snorri Sturluson.
Djaloshi, përballë librit, i nënshtrohet një disipline të përpiktë dhe e bën pas një njohurie të përpiktë;
në moshën time, çdo ndërmarrje është një aventurë
që kufizohet me natën.
Nuk do të përfundoj t’i deshifroj gjuhët e moçme të Veriut, nuk do t’i zhys dot duart plot ankth në arin e Sigurdit;
detyra që po ndërmarr është e pakufi
dhe do të më shoqërojë deri në fund,
jo më pak e mistershme se universi
dhe se unë, nxënësi.

A man playing chess with death is a monumental painting in Täby Church located just outside Stockholm, Sweden. It was painted around 1480–1490, by the Swedish medieval painter Albertus Pictor. The motiff is nearly unique, only seen one other time in contemporary art.
The painting depicts a man and a skeleton at a chessboard.
The mural inspired Ingmar Bergman to create the film The Seventh Seal in 1957.

Kurt Vonnegut's advice to people living in 2088

1. Reduce and stabilize your population.
2. Stop poisoning the air, the water, and the topsoil.
3. Stop preparing for war and start dealing with your real problems.
4. Teach your kids, and yourselves, too, while you're at it, how to inhabit a small planet without belping to kill it.
5. Stop thinking science can fix anything if you give it a trillion dollars.
6. Stop thinking your grandchildren will be OK
no matter how wasteful or destructive you may be, since they can go to a nice new planet on a spaceship. That is really mean, and stupid.
7. And so on. Or else.