“In the far corner there’s a table of six tucking into their roast dinners. Three couples, one of the women cooing over the gravy, one of the men letting his wife tuck a napkin into his shirt. You’d probably find a photo of the same six somewhere from thirty years ago, tanned and smiling, all raising glasses of sangria to the camera as a Spanish waiter took their photo. There’d be no napkin being tucked in, but the friendships would be the same, and the six of them would swear they hadn’t aged until you showed them the photograph..”
"― Richard Osman, The Impossible Fortune
"
“When things are noisy, and everyone is asking you to look at something right this instant, we mustn’t forget all the things still going on in quiet corners. There’s the news, and then there’s life..”
"― Richard Osman, The Impossible Fortune
"
“Joyce’s love for her is unconditional, Joanna knows that, but, really, unconditional love has a huge flaw. If you love me no matter what, who I actually am doesn’t matter. If someone loves your essence, your very being, what can you do to make them love you more or love you less? Nothing: there is no space. So the only option left to you is to continually prod at that unconditional love, to test it and stretch it, to mock it even. And it’s not just that. There is a further problem with unconditional love, isn’t there? Because what if you don’t love yourself? What if, like Joanna, you obsess over your flaws and weaknesses, you constantly update the balance sheet of your own personality and find it wanting? Well, then the unconditional love of a parent is a sign that they simply don’t know you. If they truly knew you, their love would be peppered with caveats. “I love you, but….”
"― Richard Osman, The Impossible Fortune
"
However, he also warned about the "immense" energy needs of AI, which made up 1.5% of the world's electricity consumption last year, external, according to the International Energy Agency.
A fabulous link to the past via Michael - thank you so much!!
“I expect to pass through this world but
once. Any good, therefore, I can
do, or any kindness that I can show to any
fellow-creature, let me do it now. Let me not
defer or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way
again.”
"Attributed to William Penn."
The steady decline of our right to protest is just one more indicator of a backsliding democracy.
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