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The Portable Voltaire

This volume includes a selection of Voltaire's essays, letters, and philosophical writings, showcasing his wit, satire, and advocacy for Enlightenment values. more

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Voltaire
Voltaire

Voltaire, a French Enlightenment philosopher, writer, and thinker, was born on November 21, 1694, and died on May 30, 1778. He had a profound impact on philosophy, literature, and science in France and Europe with his sharp wit and critical spirit. more

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“Suttree surfaced from these fevered deeps to hear a maudlin voice chant latin by his bedside, what medieval ghost come to usurp his fallen corporeality. An oiled thumball redolent of lime and sage pondered his shuttered lids.Miserere mei, Deus ...His ears anointed, his lips ... omnis maligna discordia ... Bechrismed with scented oils he lay boneless in a cold euphoria. Japheth when you left your father's house the birds had flown. You were not prepared for such weathers. You'd spoke too lightly of the winter in your father's heart. We saw you in the streets. Sad.”

HeartFatherHouseLeftVoiceSawsStreetsColdBirdEarsLaysPreparedWinterLipsOilGhostWeatherFallenSpokesLatinSageMedievalEuphoriaLimes
Book:Suttree
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“It made me very sad, that question. Sad and defeated. Because I knew she knew why I was thinking about that woman-I was thinking about my own tendencies toward aloneness and I thought I could end up like that woman, with a bird perhaps, or a dog-probably a dog, I know birds are supposed to make good pets but I think there's something creepy about them-but alone with a life that didn't touch or overlap with anyone else's, a sort of hermetically sealed life.”

ThinkingKnowsMadeEndsMy OwnDogBirdTendenciesPetDefeatedCreepyVery Sad
Book:Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You: A Novel
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“So there you have it: Nature is a rotten mess. But that's only the beginning. If you take your eyes off it for one second, it will kill you. Thorns, insects, fungus, worms, birds, reptiles, wild animals, raging rivers, bottomless ravines, dry deserts, snow, quicksand, tumbleweeds, sap, and mud. Rot, poison and death. That's Nature.It's a wonder you even step outside of your cabin, I said.My bravery exceeds my good sense, he said.”

IfsSaidEyeAnimalWonderStepsBirdRiversBraveryRageSnowMessDesertPoisonDryMudWormsInsectsExceedRottenThornsGood SenseSapWild AnimalCabinsReptilesFungiQuicksandTumbleweeds
Book:Mr. Monk in Trouble
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“I dreamed you a field of running horses, Selah. For you, Bianca, a balloon the size of the sky, my body a kite you can throw into the air.Pull me by string and horse.Tell me everything won't end in death. That everything doesn't end with February. Dead wildflowers wrapped around a crying baby's throat.I've slowed my heartbeat to three beats a minute. I've redrawn the clouds into birds, a fox chasing them into the mountains.I'm going to move my hand today.I vomit ice cubes.There's a ghost next to me.Get up, Dad.(Light Boxes)”

EndsBodyHandsLightRunningTodayMovingThreeNextAirSkyMinutesCryFieldsBabyDadMountainBeatsBirdHorseCloudsSizeBoxesGhostGet UpIceStringsThroatFoxesChasingHeartbeatBalloonsFebruaryKitesCubesWildflowers
Author:Shane Jones
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