“This has been a good year.” Or, “This has been a bad year, right?” What sorts of statements are these? What consensus could there be on a year’s goodness? I think of early medieval annals. “721 AD–drought; 722 AD–(blank); 723 AD–(blank); 724 AD–(blank); 725 AD–bad harvest, frightening comet in the west.” Poor helpless humanity.... All years are terrible years; the predicament of being human tends towards the negative. We read the news and are left feeling nothing more noble than “only I have escaped to tell thee.” A given year can be pronounced good only in a solipsistic sense.Introduction to (and explanation of) this quote series can be found here. Read this tag to see all of them.
— Teju Cole, "Envoi" (2013)
A reality-based blog by Stephen Saperstein Frug
"There is naught that you can do, other than to resist, with hope or without it. But you do not stand alone."
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