“Erasmus dramatizes a well-established political position: that of the fool who claims license to criticize all and sundry without reprisal, since his madness defines him as not fully a person and therefore not a political being with political desires and ambitions. The Praise of Folly, therefore sketches the possibility of a position for the critic of the scene of political rivalry, a position not simply impartial between the rivals but also, by self-definition, off the stage of rivalry altogether.” WellsPersonsSelfPoliticalDesireStagePossibilityPositionFoolSceneAmbitionClaimsMadnessPraiseCriticsDefinitionsFollyCriticizeLicenseRivalsRivalryReprisalErasmus Author:J. M. Coetzee
“Like a goddess on her azure hill, the star of my ambition, the mistress of my dream; a thing apart, that we can worship, but not touch; a wild desire, that, in the madness of the thought, soars higher in its dignity, and leaves me weeping in the dust.” DreamDesireStarsHigherAmbitionWorshipDignityMadnessDustHillsGoddessSoarLeaving MeMistressWeepingMy AmbitionAzure Book:Imogen: And Other Poems Source: Imogen: And Other Poems
“In Lucretius, sexual desire is considered real and genuine, whereas love is illusory. Venus, the goddess who represents the power of sexual desire, is the font of love. She merely mocks lovers with mental images. Try as they might, lovers cannot satisfy themselves by gazing nor by rubbing against one another because the madness of love will always return; hence Lucretius' prescription to flee the mental images, that is, to ward off what feeds love, turning the mind elsewhere.” TryingMindRealMightDesireLove IsReturnLoversMadnessGenuineElsewhereGoddessPrescriptionsVenusGazingIllusorySexual DesireFonts Author:Paul Ludwig Landsberg
“[Gambling] is a perfidious passion. ... It is bad for one to win, and bad not to win. ... it ends by setting your blood on fire, and to increase your chances of winning at any cost, your stakes increase frightfully; the desire of winning gets to be a madness. The soul gets sick; it neither sees nor hears anything. No family ties, position, nor fortune, can stand against this passion.” SoulEndsDesirePassionWinningChanceFireBloodPositionCostSickIncreaseMadnessFortuneSettingSettingsTiesGamblingStakesFamily Ties Author:Matilde Serao
“A disturbing novel about dreams and wishes, a nightmarish distaff monkey's paw of a book that it's impossible to forget. Lisa Tuttle remains our preeminent chronicler of family madness and desire.” BookDreamDesireWishForgetNovelImpossibleMadnessRemainsMonkeysDisturbingPawsImpossible To Forget Author:Neil Gaiman