From The Books I Read In June 2004

Today's blog is going to be like Homer's Odyssey; at least how I once read TO read it – it's best to skim until you find something you like. – David




“They do not deserve the light.”
“That is true … So they above all others need you to show them the light. The light is for any who look beyond the sky, not just for those who deserve it.”

The Storyteller – Promises: A Gallery of Biblical Portraits by Steve Stephens

People of the future won't have as much suffering, because we've already suffered for them.

“In The Park”

As I am carrying a brand-new rod on my shoulder, people must think I'm one of those fishing enthusiasts. But I know what it will mean to my old grandfather.

“Buying a Fishing Rod for my Grandfather”

Buying a Fishing Rod for my Grandfather by Xingjian Gao

It is the basic condition of life, to be required to violate your own identity. At some time, every creature which lives must do so.

Blade Runner (Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?) by Philip K. Dick

I [try] to create a lovely scene for them, like a poem....That way, a special moment may be treasured by others who are not present. Beauty reflected in a pool may be a little blurred, but it can be as beautiful in its own way as the original.

Illegally Yours by Jacqueline Diamond

“And didn't somebody once say, 'Politics is the art of the possible'?”

“Quite true – which is why only second-rate minds go into it. Genius likes to challenge the impossible.”

3001: The Final Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke

• 10 [to the 51^st power] operations per second: Maximum computational power. Quantum rules won't let the ideal 1-liter, 1-kilogram laptop crunch data any faster. –

From now on, let your weapon be like an ornament. Discipline people with love, the way I taught you. Remember, what love cannot cure, fear will not correct.

Akhenaten, Dweller in Truth by Naguib Mahfouz