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Quote by Rachel Kushner

Work

The Flamethrowers

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Author

Rachel Kushner
Rachel Kushner

Rachel Kushner (b. 1968) is an acclaimed American novelist, essayist, and short story writer. Her notable works include Telex from Cuba, The Flamethrowers, and The Mars Room. Known for her historical depth, complex narratives, and sharp cultural critique, Kushner explores American history, politics, and identity through richly layered prose. Her novel The Mars Room was a finalist for the 2018 Booker Prize and Pulitzer Prize. more

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“At any point in time – it is the state of your attention that defines your level of existence as human beings. In your waking state – Flowing Attention trapped in thoughts make you a private person. In your sleeping state – Still Attention free from thoughts make you an universal perceiver. In your natural state – Absolute Attention as it is naturally returns to its source and make you the peaceful pure presence. However in reality – only supreme source exists in all the above mentioned states.”

SpiritualityPeaceAttentionSilenceAwarenessStillness
Book:ATTENTION: The Ultimate Antidote for Tension
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“[T]here is another side to this Christian story, one that is worlds away from the bookish monks and careful copyists of legend. It is a far less glorious tale of how some philosophers were beaten, tortured, interrogated and exiled and their beliefs forbidden; it is a story of how intellectuals set light to their own libraries in fear. And it is above all a story that is told by absences: of how literature lost its liberty; how certain topics dropped from philosophical debate – and then started to vanish from the pages of history. It is a story of silence.”

PhilosophyFearFreedomSilenceChristianityDestructionCensorshipMonotheism
Book:The Darkening Age: The Christian Destruction of the Classical World
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“Would that I knew what others ignore, Such as has not been repeated, To say it and have my heart answer me, To inform it of my distress. Shift to it the load on my back, The matters that afflict me. Relate to it of what I suffer And sigh “Ah" with relief! of meditate on what has happened, The events that occur throughout the land: Changes take place, it is not like last year, One year is more irksome than the other. The land breaks up, is destroyed. Becomes [a wasteland]. Order is cast out, Chaos is in the council hail ; The ways of the gods are violated, Their provisions neglected. The land is in turmoil. There is mourning everywhere; Towns, districts are grieving, All alike are burdened by wrongs. One turns one’s back on dignity. The lords of silence are disturbed; As dawn comes every day. The face recoils from events. I cry out about it, My limbs are weighed down, I grieve in my heart. It is hard to keep silent about it, Another heart would bend; But a heart strong in distress: It is a comrade to its lord. Had I a heart skilled in hardship, I would take my rest upon it. Weigh it down with words of grief. Lay on it my malady! He said to his heart: Come, my heart, I speak to you. Answer me my sayings! Unravel for me what goes on in the land, Why those who shone are overthrown. I meditate on what has happened: While trouble entered in today, And turmoil will not cease tomorrow, Everyone is mute about it. The whole land is in great distress, Nobody is free from erime; Hearts are greedy. He who gave orders takes orders, And the hearts of both submit. One wakes to it every day. And the hearts do not reject it. Yesterday's condition is like today’s None is wise enough to know it, None angry enough to cry out, One wakes to suffer each day. My malady is long and heavy. The sufferer lacks strength to save himself From that which overwhelms him. It is pain to be silent to what one hears, It is futile to answer the ignorant. To reject a speech makes enmity; The heart does not accept the truth, One cannot bear a statement of fact, A man loves only his own words. Everyone builds on crookedness, Right-speaking is abandoned. I spoke to you, my heart, answer you me, A heart addressed must not be silent, Lo, servant and master fare alike, There is much that weighs upon you!”

HeartFatherSilenceDignitySilentChaosMourningGreedyIgnoreGrieve
Book:Ancient Egyptian Literature, Volume I: The Old and Middle Kingdoms
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