By Mikhail Sholokhov, How human beings have sullied, have poisoned the world! How much human misery has been poured out! She turned passionately towards Bunchuk and sought for his hand. ‘Tell me, wouldn’t it be sweet to die for that? Tell me! Yes? What is there to believe in, if not in that? What is one to live for? It seems to me that if I die in the struggle…’ She …

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This is not meant as a reproach. The past is not irreproachable, but there is no sense in reproaching it. It should be studied. – Maxim Gorky

A few excerpts from the tremendous text. “These peoples [Melanesian tribes] possess an extra domestic economy and a very developed system of exchange that throbs with life more intensely and more precipitately perhaps than the one that our peasants or the fishing villages along our coasts were familiar with maybe not even a hundred years ago. They have an extensive economic life, going …

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Winds changing flows to a steady beat Sun rays slow and melodic, a fiery taste on the burnt feet Greenery shadowy and gentle Questions on questions on questions Like the ants that walk lock in step, beat by beat A melodic stutter, patient and true There is a hue, there is freedom On the color that pales on such shades Crimson and infinite midnight, are my gentle travellers To see a chrysalis and …

What follows are some of my favorite excerpts from the Christian Theologian Paul Tillich’s book The Eternal Now. They withdraw into a self-chosen loneliness, taking revenge through bitterness and hostility towards those they feel have rejected them, actually enjoying the pain of their loneliness. One of these ways is the desire towards the silence of nature. We can speak without voice to the …

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Shen Teh: Yes, it is me. Shui Ta and Shen Teh, I am both of them. Your original order To be good while yet surviving Split me like lightning into two people. I Cannot tell what occurred: goodness to others And to myself could not both be achieved. To serve both self and others I found too hard. Oh, your world is arduous! Such need, such description! The hand which is held out to the starving Is …

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From the Interlude of “The Good Person of Szechwan” by Bertolt Brecht — John Willet Translation. Song of the Defencelessness of the Good and the Gods Shen Teh: In our country The capable man needs luck. Only If he has mighty backers Can he prove his capacity. The good Have no means of helping themselves and the gods are powerless. So why can’t the gods launch a great …

From Scene Four of “The Good Person of Szechwan” by Bertolt Brecht - John Willet Translation. Shen Teh, to the audience : I had never seen the city at dawn. These were the hours when I used to lie with my filthy blanket over my head, terrified to wake up. Today I mixed with the newsboys, with the men who were washing down the streets, with the ox-carts bringing fresh vegetables in from …

From Scene Three of “The Good Person of Szechwan” by Bertolt Brecht - John Willet Translation. It starts raining. Shen Teh: What’s that rope for? You’re not to do it! Sun: Mind you’re own business! And get out of the way! Shen Teh: It’s raining. Sun: Don’t you try sheltering under my tree. Shen Teh remains motionless in the rain : No. Sun: Why not give up, …

From Scene One of “The Good Person of Szechwan” — John Willet translation The Grandfather: Once I believed intelligence would aid me I was an optimist when I was younger Now that I’m old I see it hasn’t paid me: How can intelligence compete with hunger? And so I said: drop it! Like smoke twisting grey Into ever colder coldness you’ll Blow away. The man: I saw …