quotes – Cubilone's Dimension

REVIEW: THE GAME: PENETRATING THE SECRET SOCIETY OF PICKUP ARTISTS

The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists by Neil Strauss
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The Game, pickup artists, the art of seduction and all that is something that has fascinated me for a while. The pretension of it all, really. It’s so different from the WYSIWYG way I believe I usually project myself; foreign, yet with a certain unmistakable allure: imagine being able to seduce anyone! How can people live like this, moving from woman to woman without any emotional attachment? Do they feel omnipotent? How can they lie, or rather bullshit so exquisitely? Do they ever get impostor syndrome, or can only narcissists and megalomaniacs immune to impostor syndrome really excel at seducing? Who are these guys anyway? Don’t they ever stop, look at themselves and wonder what they’re trying to prove? Probably not, right?

Turns out the techniques work like clockwork, like Jedi mind tricks on stormtroopers, but even if you mingle with celebrities for a living, like Strauss did before sitting down to write his story, at some point you will either (or both): a) get tired of casual sex with bimbos without any lasting connection and seek something deeper; b) meet your seduction match who will drive you crazy because what she wants is the real you and trying to seduce her by the Playbook amazingly turns her off, and by the time you realize the fact you’ve almost lost her for good.

Relevant xkcd: Pickup Artist, #1027

Still, listening to this book worked as a mood enhancer for me. I speculate it was the effect well-known to us self-improvement book readers of getting a high merely from visualising a change in your life by following the advice suggested instead of actually following it, which, it should be noted, often leads us readers never taking the steps necessary for change to take place, satisfied from the imagined high we’ve just had. Second-hand success stories almost work just as well, and this is essentially what you get here: “look at the self-proclaimed loser get all the chicks he’s never had! I could do the same, if I chose to!”

But would I ever choose to be that guy? I wonder: by not playing The Game because I believe it’s dehumanising and pathetic and that self-confirmation and self-worth come from within, not from forgetting how many women you’ve tricked into falling for you, am I really just displaying my “mediocrity” as a man, my “beta”-ness? That’s definitely what a player would say about me. But is it because I’m scared of pulling it off that I’m shunning seduction, or could it be that, since I don’t need conquests to feel desirable or indeed complete, I am already “ahead of The Game”, the very place pickup artists go all this process through to reach?

The words “you are what you love, not what loves you” came as an answer while I was typing the above, as they’d done once before while I was out running and listening to this book.

To be honest, close to half the enjoyment I got out of The Game I got from the narrator and the way he switched accents between Neil and bimbos, Mystery and Style, tones of voice etc. Here you can find a sample. Actually, not just a that: by looking for a sample I ended up with a link to the full thing (which might not even be with us for long, judging by Youtube’s policies) and realised by looking at the comments that what I listened to in the end wasn’t even the full version of the book! Come to think of it, I did just finish it in a couple of days…

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QUOTES ~ ΑΠΟΦΘΕΓΜΑΤΑ №… HUH. OH WHO CARES ANYWAY. THIS ONE’S ABOUT INTROVERSION

“As an introvert, interacting with other people feels like exercise. I feel better about myself every time I do it; it makes me stronger and healthier. It also exhausts me, and if I do it too much I feel sore and cramped. But if I go too long without it, I feel sluggish and stifled. Ultimately, it is the space between that energizes and sustains me. And some days, I just don’t feel like working out and would rather sit on my ass and read a book by myself.”

-Daniel Miles

REVIEW: PIHKAL: A CHEMICAL LOVE STORY

Pihkal: A Chemical Love Story by Alexander Shulgin

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Sometimes you read some books you think everybody should read, if only just so that they can correct their misconceptions on certain things.

Alexander Shulgin was a researcher of psychotropics which he had been inventing in his laboratories and testing on himself for almost half a century. Actually, no; merely calling him that would be like describing J.S. Bach simply as a Baroque musician. If it wasn’t for him, a great many psychoactive compounds, including MDMA, the tremendous potential for psychotherapeutic use of which it was also he who discovered, would have never seen the light of day; people wouldn’t have enjoyed them and found insight in their use… The field as a whole would be much poorer.

In fact, given the prolonged forbidding legal status of the production, distribution and even use for the majority of known psychedelics since the ’60s, without Shulgin there would have hence been next to no research at all in this field of human knowledge and experience we are repeatedly and stubbornly denying ourselves from. He was one of the most important beacons of reason, curiosity and tenderness on this topic, and that is why I wanted to get my hands on PiKHaL: anything written by Sasha is required reading on this subject.

Since it’s a big book and it’s expensive and difficult to get it even used, I tracked it down on .pdf soon after I got my Kindle, which makes it easier to enjoy hard-to-find works like this on digital format. The day after I started reading it, there was news that Shulgin had passed away – at the age of 88 and after inventing and trying hundreds of successful and not-so-successful “drugs”, no less.

Shulgin in this book told his life’s story and how he got interested in the things that made him famous (it has to do with the placebo effect and the power of the mind); how he met his wife, who co-authored this work with him; he described his little psychedelic sessions with friends in a very affectionate and effective way.

In their remote but blessed corner of the universe they tread new ground and wrote all about it. It was epic.

Read this and come back to me mumbling something about wanting to keep it natural and chemicals-free. I dare you.

I’m perfectly aware that I might be getting on your nerves with these Kindle shots. The first two should be easy enough to read if you want to get a feel of what it was like reading these highlight-worthy quotes. But in this last bit the font is too small, and I admit it’s probably way too much effort reading text from those .jpgs. They serve as aesthetic enhancements of the review. Or I could just call them my reviews’ seasonings, like they have in restaurants on every table: complete with salt, pepper, oil, chili perhaps, here in Bulgaria garlic sauce… Optional, but there for you if you’re feeling like it.

I’ll sign off this review with a transcript of the picture above, because I know that sometimes food is best eaten pure.

PIHKAL: A Chemical Love Story (Shulgin)
– Your Highlight on page 208 | location 3183-3185 | Added on Wednesday, 11 June 2014 14:20:42

I looked up at him and smiled, showing all my teeth, “I learned long ago that the most dangerous opponent is the one who tells you he hasn’t been near the game in years. He’s the one who’ll wipe the board with you, while apologizing for being so terribly rusty.”
==========
PIHKAL: A Chemical Love Story (Shulgin)
– Your Highlight on page 215 | location 3294-3297 | Added on Wednesday, 11 June 2014 14:34:12

“You told me that you invent new psychedelics and that you have a group of people who try them out after you’ve made sure they’re safe and ,/ He interrupted, “Not safe. There is no such thing as safety. Not with drugs and not with anything else. You can only presume relative safety. Too much of anything is unsafe. Too much food, too much drink, too much aspirin, too much anything you can name, is likely to be unsafe.”
==========
PIHKAL: A Chemical Love Story (Shulgin)
– Your Highlight on page 219 | location 3349-3351 | Added on Wednesday, 11 June 2014 14:39:51

“Of course, there are many ways to alter your consciousness and your perceptions; there always have been, and new ways will keep being developed. Drugs are only one way, but I feel they’re the way that brings about the changes most rapidly, and – in some ways – most dependably. Which makes them very valuable when the person using them knows what he’s doing.”

And… sorry, I just couldn’t hold myself. Quotes really do a better job at reviewing themselves than I ever could.

PIHKAL: A Chemical Love Story (Shulgin)
– Your Highlight on page 176 | location 2690-2698 | Added on Sunday, 8 June 2014 04:37:06

Sam said, “I don’t know if you realize this, but there are some researchers – doctors – who are giving this kind of drug to volunteers, to see what the effects are, and they’re doing it the proper scientific way, in clean white hospital rooms, away from trees and flowers and the wind, and they’re surprised at how many of the experiments turn sour. They’ve never taken any sort of psychedelic themselves, needless to say. Their volunteers – they’re called ‘subjects,’ of course – are given mescaline or LSD and they’re all opened up to their surroundings, very sensitive to color and light and other people’s emotions, and what are they given to react to? Metal bed-frames and plaster walls, and an occasional white coat carrying a clipboard. Sterility. Most of them say afterwards that they’ll never do it again.” “Jesus! Right now, after what I’ve just gone through, that sounds worse than awful.” “Not all of the research is being done that way, thank God, but too much of it is.” “What a shame,” I said, saddened by the picture, “What a shame!”

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QUOTES ~ ΑΠΟΦΘΕΓΜΑΤΑ ΧΧ

Had this on my sticky notes on my (ex-)laptop’s dekstop, among all the rest of the mess, just sitting there for more than a year. Rejoice, snip; your time has come at last.

As for the fluency, it is better to do foreign language education at an early age, but being exposed to a foreign language since an early age causes a “weak identification” (Billiet, Maddens and Beerten 241). Such issue leads to a “double sense of national belonging,” that makes one not sure of where he or she belongs to because according to Brian A. Jacob, multicultural education impacts students’ “relations, attitudes, and behaviors” (Jacob 364). And as children learn more and more foreign languages, children start to adapt, and get absorbed into the foreign culture that they “undertake to describe themselves in ways that engage with representations others have made” (Pratt 35). Due to such factors, learning foreign languages at an early age may incur one’s perspective of his or her native country.

From the Wikipedia article on second language.

My stress. It explains a lot, I think.

Review: The Science Delusion: Feeling the Spirit of Enquiry + Quotes ~ Αποφθέγματα ΧΙΧ

The Science Delusion: Feeling the Spirit of Enquiry by Rupert Sheldrake

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I have the rational intelligence to be a scientist, but it’s not in my personality to fill in cracks in established mental models. I seek anomalies that open cracks.

~Ran Prieur

Quickly becoming one of my favourite quotes.

Jimmy Wales tells “energy workers” that Wikipedia won’t publish woo, “the work of lunatic charlatans isn’t the equivalent of ‘true scientific discourse'” [link]

Jimmy Wales’ statement is as revolting as the discussion under it. I would suggest that you read it, but only if you have the stomach for tens of “skeptics” parrotting the mainstream opinions about woo, parapsychology etc, claiming the truth and the high ground of knowledge as they usually do. Even the article itself is taking clear sides without shame.

Do these people know anything about the subject? Does Jimmy Wales know anything about the subject, he who with one broad swath pigeonholes so many people as lunatic charlatanes? I don’t know whether this technique in particular has had successes, explicable or inexplicable, in doing what it says it does, I haven’t looked into it to be honest, but I’ve seen the same discussion surrounding “pseudoscience” too many times to count.

Why this hate? Why this elitism? Why this aversion to exploration of the fringes? When did science become all about defending what’s already known? I thought the opposite was the main idea. Is materialist science, peer-reviewd journals, wikipedia, Richard Dawkins and the rest, parts of a bulletproof world theory anyway?

No, they’re not. Far from it. And if you want to know why, you should absolutely read The Science Delusion (title insisted upon by publisher) by Rupert Sheldrake. His main idea is that science and the scientific method are generally good at giving answers about our world, but, just like organised religion 500 years ago did, it has become too inflexible, too bulky, too dogmatic, too rid of assumptions, too sure of itself and too dismissive to be of any real use today. Meanwhile, it’s hindering research that could further our understanding of the world in unimaginable ways.

What’s interesting is that Sheldrake in this book provides us with -what’s normally considered as- hard evidence for a world that cannot be explained materialistically. That includes results of real peer-reviewed experiments that point to the reality of things like brainless memories, statistically significant telepathy and many more chin-stroke-worthy phenomena that truly test mainstream science’s beliefs of what should or shouldn’t be possible.

After reading the book, I checked Rupert Sheldrake’s Wikipedia entry just to see reactions to his work from the scientific communituy. Not surprisingly, the discussion was not much more sophisticated than what I witnessed in the link at the top of this review: accusations of pseudoscience, charlatanism etc pervaded the articles, indications that the skeptics hadn’t really comprehended the criticism aimed at their methodology and worldview, didn’t follow up on the bibliography, plainly assuming that there must have been something wrong with it (confirmation bias), or that they simply didn’t even read the book. Richard Dawkins has said, after all, that he doesn’t want to discuss evidence when it comes to inexplicable phenomena, raising questions about whether he’s really interested in the truth or not – in my personal experience, most skeptics do not have furthering their understanding of our world at the top of their priorities.

In any case, I find the accusations against Sheldrake, and this book in particular, hollow: The Science Delusion has close to 40 pages of notes and bibliography of actual experiments to back it up and Sheldrake’s style and prose themselves are lucid as well as restrained. Even in the parts in which he discusses the inability of science to interpret the phenomena, where he proposes his own theory of morphing resonance as a possible explanation -the parts I enjoyed the least because I cannot exactly grasp the concept of morphic resonance-, he does so without conviction, but rather with the spirit of the curious researcher. A true scientist in my book. The skeptics’ reaction to his work seems to disregard all of this completely; they treat him like they would any old fraud.

But I understand: scientists are also people. What would it have been normal for them to do in the face of rejection of their entire lives’ work plus a few hundred years of tradition? Accept their failure? Accept their dogmatism? Just as scientists are people, science is also a human activity, and as most of human activities do, it also suffers from the same problems human beings generally have, only in a larger, more chaotic scale.

Finally, one more reason I appreciated this book so much was that it was… tender. At the other side of the raging skeptics and this blind rejection there is investigation, there is respect, there is a belief in a state of things that resonated deeply with me. Maybe it’s because Sheldrake’s main field of research has been biology that he shows such love for plants, animals and life in general. For whatever reason, it warmed my heart and made me think that if I ever was a real scientist, Sheldrake would be my rold model: a fighter for truth against the faux fighters for truth, the romantic gardener who everybody calls a hippie but he alone sees what everybody else is too blind to see.

Third five-star review in a row after Μίλα μου για γλώσσα and
Small Gods (lol). Am I becoming softer or just more grateful?

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Review: Αντικουλτούρα: Τα “κακά” παιδιά

Αντικουλτούρα: Τα “κακά” παιδιά by Juan Carlos Kreimer

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Δύσκολα η γενιά μας έχει πρόσβαση σε πληροφορίες για το τι γινόταν 50 χρόνια πριν, σε μια εποχή που είχε ελπίδα, όραμα και παραδόξως -γιατί τότε ήταν ο τρόπος ζωής των παρείσακτων – γέννησε μεγάλο μέρος αυτού που σήμερα λέμε pop culture (δηλαδή δημοφιλή κουλτούρα). Δεν διδάσκεται πουθενά και όλοι μας σχεδόν έχουμε σαν δεδομένα αυτά που έγιναν τότε: από τα κεκτημένα στα δικαιώματα των μαύρων μέχρι τους ανατρεπτικούς μουσικούς που γέννησαν τη ροκ και τις ενθεογενείς ουσίες οι οποίες άνοιξαν μυαλά αλλά διώχτηκαν και συκοφαντήθηκαν. Δυστυχώς από τότε έχει περάσει αρκετός καιρός ώστε να μαθαίνουμε μόνο αυτά τα οποία το κύριο ρεύμα μπορεί να χωνέψει και έχει εντάξει· είμαι σίγουρος πως πολλές ιστορίες, φιγούρες και άλλα σημαντικά για την εποχή γεγονότα και διεργασίες έχουν πια ξεχαστεί ή/και επιμελώς θαφτεί.

Το βιβλίο ως βιβλίο καταπιάνεται με όλα αυτά. ο Juan Carlos Kreimer και ο Frank Vega προσπαθούν με το Αντικουλτούρα: Τα «κακά» παιδιά (thumbs-down στην μετάφραση του τίτλου και των εισαγωγικών, που στο πρωτότυπο είναι Contracultura para principiantes, δηλαδή Αντικουλτούρα για Αρχάριους), να μας δώσουν εμάς, την γενιά του 21ου αιώνα, τι έγινε εκεί πίσω στην εποχή η οποία δημιούργησε τις περισσότερες φιγούρες στις οποίες πιστεύει το σημερινό περιθώριο, όσο κι αν σπάνια έχει συνείδηση της συστημικότητας -ήδη απ’το ’70- πολλών απ’τα στοιχεία που αυτό οικοιοποιείται σήμερα. Τα καταφέρνει; Ναι και όχι.

Ναι, γιατί αναφέρει -αρκετά συμπυκνωμένα είναι αλήθεια- όλα αυτά που μόλις έγραψα. Πώς έγιναν διάσημοι οι Beatles, πώς ξεκίνησαν οι Sex Pistols, ποιος έκανε το LSD διάσημο, ποιοι ήταν οι πρώτοι διανοητές beat, ποιες ταινίες επηρέασαν το πνεύμα της εποχής, γιατί δολοφονήθηκαν όλοι οι πολιτικοί -μαύροι και λευκοί- οι οποίοι θα μπορούσαν να είχαν κάνει τη διαφορά, τι διάβαζαν οι χίπιδες, τι δυσφήμισε τα κινήματα κτλ.

Όχι, γιατί δεν κατάφερε να δημιουργήσει μια συνεκτική ιστορία που θα συνέδεε όλην αυτή την πληροφορία σε μια ιστορία, σε μια ενιαία αφήγηση. Διαβάζοντας το μαθαίνεις αποσπασματικά τις λεπτομέρειες αλλά δεν λαμβάνεις την όλη αίσθηση της εποχής τόσο πολύ.

Τελικά όμως θα μου φανεί χρήσιμο ως σημείο αναφοράς για να ψάξω από μόνος μου κάποια από τα πρόσωπα, τις ταινίες, τα συγκροτήματα, τα πρόσωπα και τα γεγονότα που σημάδεψαν την γέννηση της αντικουλτούρας. Γιατί αν δεν ξέρεις ιστορία, είσαι καταδικασμένος να την επαναλάβεις (Santayana), ακόμα κι αν η ιστορία δεν επαναλαμβάνεται, παρα μόνο κάποιες φορές κάνει ομοιοκαταληξία (Twain) και τελικά το μεγαλύτερο μάθημα που μπορεί να μας διδάξει είναι πως οι άνθρωποι δεν μαθαίνουμε από αυτή (Huxley). Νιώθω πολύ πόζερος που μόλις το έγραψα αυτό.

Πολλά ευχαριστώ στον Κίρα που μου έκανε το βιβλίο δώρο πέρσι τα Χριστούγεννα. Άργησα (σχετικά!) αλλά δεν μου ξέφυγε.

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Quotes~Αποφθέγματα XVIII

In a closed society where everybody’s guilty, the only crime is getting caught. In a world of thieves, the only final sin is stupidity.”

Hunter S. Thompson, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, 1971

Review: The Art of Looking Sideways by Alan Fletcher

The Art of Looking Sideways by Alan Fletcher

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Above: a photograph of my own copy of The Art of Looking Sideways.

This book is a valuable collection of experiences, quotes, designer-gasms, observations and insights into life, the aesthetic, artistic and general human experience, by late master graphic designer Alan Fletcher.

I got it more than a year ago like new (yes, it took me this long to go through its 1000+ pages reading/enjoying on and off) for around €30. Most of that must have been the shipping costs: when it arrived I really couldn’t believe the sheer mass of it. I tried to scan some of it, once; the results: my current profile picture, and a scanner which since then has been occassionally malfunctioning, the book’s weight having left a permanent scar in its life of digitisation. This is actually the only reason I haven’t been lugging it around more often, showing it to each and every one of my friends — artistically inclined or no.

This book is so thick with inspiration it’s almost impossible to deal with: you can’t open it randomly to catch the creative spark (supposedly Alan Fletcher’s point in making it) without wanting to read it all. Though I suppose this mindless and distracted consumption is a personal demon I have to deal with!

Anyway. I’ll make this short and to the point: this treasure chest of a book is one of my most prized and proud possessions — and believe you me, as a rule I don’t take particular pride anymore in owning things.

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Review: Ένας κόσμος ανάποδα

Ένας κόσμος ανάποδα by Eduardo Galeano

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Η ανάπτυξη

Μια γέφυρα δίχως ποτάμι.
Ψηλές προσόψεις κτιρίων δίχως τίποτε από πίσω.
Ο κηπουρός ποτίζει το πλαστικό γρασίδι.
Κυλιόμενες σκάλες που δεν οδηγούν πουθενά.
Ο αυτοκινητόδρομς που μας δίνει τη δυνατότητα να γνωρίσουμε τόπους, που εξαιτίας του έχουν καταστραφεί.
Η οθόνη της τηλέορασης δείχνει μια τηλεοπτική συσκεύη που περιέχει μιαν άλλη τηλεοπτική συσκευή μέσα στην οποία υπάρχει μια τηλεοπτική συσκευή.

Ο ήλιος δύει στα τέλη του αιώνα

Είναι δηλητηριασμένο το χώμα που θα μας σκεπάσει ή θα μας εξορίσει.
Δεν υπάρχει πια αέρας, παρα μόνο δυσαρέσκεια.
Δεν υπάρχει πια βροχή, παρα μόνο όξινη βροχή.
Δεν υπάρχουν πια πάρκα, παρα μόνο parkings (εκτός από το πάρκο στη Ναυαρίνου).
Δεν υπάρχουν πια κοινωνίες, παρα μόνο ανώνυμες εταιρίες.
Εταιρίες στη θέση των εθνών.
Καταναλωτές στη θέση των πολιτών.
Πολεοδομικές περιοχές αντί για πόλεις.
Δεν υπάρχουν άνθρωποι, παρα μόνο κοινό.
Δεν υπάρχει πραγματικότητα, παρα μόνο διαφήμιση.
Δεν υπάρχουν οράματα, παρα μόνο τηλεοράσεις.
Όταν θαυμάζουμε ένα λουλούδι συνήθως λέμε: «Τι ωραίο, είναι σαν πλαστικό».

Χάρτης της υδρογείου

         Η γραμμή του ισημερινού δεν περνάει από τη μέση του χάρτη της υδρογείου που μας μάθαιναν στο σχολείο. Περισσότερο από μισό αιώνα πριν, ο Γερμανός εξερευνητής Άρνο Πέτερς παραδέχτηκε αυτό που όλοι έβλεπαν αλλά κανείς δεν έλεγε: ο βασιλιάς της γεωγραφίας ήταν γυμνός.
         Ο χάρτης της υδρογείου που μας δίδασκαν έδειχνε να είναι τα δύο τρίτα του κόσμου στο Βορρά και το ένα τρίτο στο Νότο. Στο χάρτη εκείνο, η Ευρώπη είναι μεγαλύτερη από τη Λατινική Αμερική, παρότι στην πραγματικότητα η Λατινική Αμερική έχει τη διπλάσια επιφάνεια από την Ευρώπη. Η Ινδία φαίνεται πιο μικρή από τη Σκανδιναβία, παρότι είναι τρεις φορές μεγαλύτερη. Οι Ηνωμένες Πολιτείες και ο Καναδάς καταλαμβάνουν στο χάρτη περισσότερο χώρο από την Αφρική, ενώ στην πραγματικότητα μόλις και μετά βίας φτάνουν τα δύο τρίτα της αφρικανικής ηπείρου.
         Ο χάρτης ψεύδεται. Η παραδοσιακή γεωγραφία κλέβει το χώρο, όπως η ιμπεριαλιστική οικονομία κλέβει τον πλούτο, όπως η επίσημη ιστορία κλέβει τη μνήμη και η τυπική κουλτούρα κλέβει το λόγο.

Ο εν λόγω χάρτης του Peters, με τις εκτάσεις χωρών και ηπείρων ακριβείς.

Διαβάζοντας αυτό το βιβλίο, δεν μπορούσα να σταματήσω να σημειώνω και να υπογραμμίζω. Κάθε δεύτερη αράδα είναι γεμάτη νόημα, συνδέσεις, αποκαλύψεις και θίξεις για το τι πραγματικά είναι ανάποδο στον κόσμο. Η ματιά του Ουρουγουανού συγγραφέα ξεκινάει από τη Λατινική Αμερική του 1998 και εξαπλώνεται σε όλο τον κόσμο, όταν τα πράγματα δεν φαινόντουσαν τόσο σκούρα όσο σήμερα κι ο κόσμος ακόμα ζούσε τη μετασοσιαλιστική μέθη. Σήμερα, θα μπορούσαμε κάλλιστα να αντικαταστήσουμε μερικά ονόματα μέσα στο κείμενο και αυτόματα οι ιστορίες του χρέους, του μίσους, της ληστείας και της αποχαύνωσης να μιλάνε για την Ελλάδα του 2013. Τίποτα δεν έχει αλλάξει στα χρόνια που μεσολάβησαν· μάλιστα, όσα θίγει ο Γκαλεάνο έχουν απλά ενταθεί και παγκοσμιοποιηθεί περισσότερο, οι αδικίες έχουν χτυπήσει νέες αποχρώσεις του κόκκινου κι αυτό κάνει το βιβλίο τόσο πιο επίκαιρο. Είναι πολύ πετυχημένο νομίζω ότι το βιβλίο τελειώνει με τις γραμμές: Ο συγγραφέας σταμάτησε το γράψιμο αυτού του βιβλίου τον Αύγουστο του 1998. Αν θέλετε να μάθετε τη συνέχεια να ακούτε, να βλέπετε και να διαβάζετε καθημερινά τις ειδήσεις.

Δεν είναι εύκολη ανάγνωση: κάθε κεφάλαιο είναι κι ένα χαστούκι, κάθε στοιχείο (το οποίο δυστυχώς δεν έρχεται με πηγές) άλλο ένα χτύπημα. Θα έλεγα ότι είναι μια εισαγωγή για την κατάσταση του σύγχρονου κόσμου, ένα εγχειρίδιο για την κοινωνική, περιβαλλοντική και πολιτιστική ανισορροπία παντού. Ο γλαφυρός τρόπος που γράφει ο Γκαλεάνο το κάνει ακόμα πιο πολύτιμο, τα μηνύματα που περνάει χτυπάνε πιο γερά.

Το τελευταίο κεφάλαιο τουλάχιστον είναι αισιόδοξο και λίγο ονειροπόλο. Προτιμώ να κρατήσω αυτό παρά να χαθώ στα υπόλοιπα απαισιόδοξα και φριχτά κεφάλαια, όσο καλά κι αν είναι για υπογράμμιση. Διαβάστε το εδώ. Επίσης online μπορείτε να βρείτε και άλλα αποσπάσματα του βιβλίου εδώ.

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Quotes ~ Αποφθέγματα XV // George Bernard Shaw

Seriously, this guy must have been constantly just speaking in quote-worthy nuggets. No lame jokes, banal sayings or uninspired, trivial chit-chat; just heavy-weight yet silky smooth truisms that are just a tiny little bit truer than all others. It is one of those cases where the variation is subtle but the difference is indeed disproportionately, or should we say, very well proportionedly disproportionately, large.

“Patriotism is, fundamentally, a conviction that a particular country is the best in the world because you were born in it.”

~

“When a thing is funny, search it carefully for a hidden truth.”

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“Animals are my friends…and I don’t eat my friends.”

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“You see things; you say, ‘Why?’ But I dream things that never were; and I say ‘Why not?”

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“The reasonable man adapts himself to the world: the unreasonable one persists to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.” (a personal classic with a story of its own, one of his saying I have known the longest and argued over the hardest)

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“My way of joking is to tell the truth. It’s the funniest joke in the world.”

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“I often quote myself. It adds spice to my conversation.”

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“Whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so sure of themselves, and wiser people are full of doubts.”

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“Liberty means responsibility. That is why most men dread it.”

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“You are going to let the fear of poverty govern your life and your reward will be that you will eat, but you will not live.”

Where I picked them from, a more complete list.