Sunday, March 28, 2021

Sunday Papers: Richard Holmes


"What's it all about then?  Is man merely what he appears to be to the astronomer, a puny piece of impure carbon and water, an impotent insect inhabiting an insignificant planet?  Or is he what he appears to be to Hamlet: noble in reason, infinite in faculty, in form and moving how express and admirable, in action how like an angel, in apprehension how like a god, the beauty of the world, the paragon of animals?  Or is he both? Is there really a way of life that is noble and another that is vile, or are all ways of living merely futile?  And must what is good also be eternal in order to be considered worthwhile, or is it worth striving for even if the universe is expanding inexorably towards its own extinction?"


On the turntable:  Miles Davis, " Theater Street St. Denis 1983-07-07"

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