Zakhar Prilepin’s novel-in-stories, Sin, has become a literary phenomenon in Russia, where it was published in 2007. It has been hailed as the epitome of the spirit of the opening decade of the 21st century, and was called “the book of the decade” by the prestigious Super Natsbest Award jury. Now available for the first time in English, it not only embodies the reality of post-perestroika Russia, but also shows that even in this reality, just like in any other, it is possible to maintain a positive attitude while remaining human. Zakharka is young, strong, in love with love and with life’s random, telling moments. In the episodes of his life, presented here in non-chronological order, we see him as a little boy, a lovelorn teenager, a hard-drinking grave-digger, a nightclub bouncer, a father, and a soldier in Chechnya. He even writes poetry, and his stylistically varied verses are presented in the penultimate chapter of the book. Loving life, he looks boldly, and even with curiosity, into the face of death – taking pictures of the deceased at a funeral, staring with agitation at the entrails of a just-disembowelled pig, chronicling the death of a childhood friend – and values the freedom of not fearing his own end. It is family that ultimately defines happiness for Zakharka; but it is also family that makes him realize, on the desolate Chechen border, that his love for them has deprived him of this freedom. Sin offers a fascinating glimpse into the recent Russian past, as well as its present, with its unemployment, poverty, violence, and local wars – social problems that may be found in many corners of the world. Zakhar Prilepin presents these realities through the eyes of Zakharka, taking us along on the life-affirming journey of his unforgettable protagonist.

A delightful children's classic dealing with questions of natural life with plentiful and colourful examples of how things work, and more importantly, why such things as rain, snow, wind and others happen.

Michael Snowdon inherits a substantial sum of money from his deceased son and decides to return from Australia to London. He spends only on necessities and lives like a poor man despite being able to live comfortably. His fortune is kept a secret even from his close friends and relatives.

We have already discussed the first causes of nature, and all natural motion, also the stars ordered in the motion of the heavens, and the physical element-enumerating and specifying them and showing how they change into one another-and becoming and perishing in general. There remains for consideration a part of this inquiry which all our predecessors called meteorology. It is concerned with events that are natural, though their order is less perfect than that of the first of the elements of bodies. They take place in the region nearest to the motion of the stars. Such are the milky way, and comets, and the movements of meteors.

Walden follows Thoreau's experiences over the course of two years, two months, and two days in a cabin he built near Walden Pond, amidst woodland owned by his friend and mentor Ralph Waldo Emerson. In Civil Disobedience Thoreau argues that individuals should not permit governments to overrule or atrophy their consciences, and that they have a duty to avoid allowing such acquiescence to enable the government to make them the agents of injustice.

An anthology of several essays by American transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau. The book includes an introduction entitled 'Biographical Sketch' in which fellow transcendentalist Ralph Waldo Emerson provides a description of Thoreau and nine of nine of Thoreau's essays: Natural History of Massachusetts, A Walk to Wachusett, The Landlord, A Winter Walk, The Succession of Forest Trees, Walking, Autumnal Tints, Wild Apples, and Night and Moonlight.

The Ion is the shortest, or nearly the shortest, of all the writings which bear the name of Plato, and is not authenticated by any early external testimony. The grace and beauty of this little work supply the only, and perhaps a sufficient, proof of its genuineness. The plan is simple; the dramatic interest consists entirely in the contrast between the irony of Socrates and the transparent vanity and childlike enthusiasm of the rhapsode Ion.

The Confessions is an autobiographical work of Jean-Jacques Rousseau which initiated modern autobiography. Covering the first fifty-three years of Rousseau's life the book provides an account of the experiences that shaped his personality and ideas.

The book “55 years of Thoughts & Meditations” is the result of the constant efforts, inquiries, reflections, thoughts and meditations of one man. All matters analysed derive from our everyday lives and include social, political, philosophical and love issues, as well as more general reflections on life. These matters are delivered in a thematic manner, which varies in both form and substance and is expressed in prose mainly, but also in poetic form. Many of the issues posed occur to every thinking person, who follows his/her own path on earth and who seeks answers and solutions to life’s problems: Why do nations engage in battle? Why do people fight? What makes human contact difficult? What are art and beauty? What are sciences and what are their true limits? Should we trust them? What is “wisdom” and “beauty” and which knowledge is truly worthwhile? Is there objective knowledge? What is the unique truth? Is there good and evil? What are the three ideals, “Love”, “Knowledge” and the “Truth”?So one morning, I began to gather and then document all my random thoughts, the remnants of everything that has triggered my observations, all the questions I have documented throughout my life and everything I had noted here and there and I turned it into a book of personal thoughts and meditations. This book is therefore the book of life, taken straight from life, rich with the reflec-tions of a lifetime. It is a book about life and is aimed at every thinking and honest reader with good intentions. This includes young readers who are gifted with the clarity of soul and are in a better position to be aware of the just and the beautiful. Fifty five years of thoughts and meditations is what this book is. It is a quest of “Love”, of “Knowledge” and of the “Truth”.

The Myth of Er is the epilogue of Plato’s Republic. It could be considered as an independent text that refers to the greatest philosophical question of all times."Where does our soul go when we die and where does it come from when we are born?"Socrates in order to give an answer that would lead to a safe conclusion connects the journey of our soul to the function of our planetary system and tries to analyze the following sacramental but also scientific issues:- What is the difference between a developed soul and a developed mind?- Why is the cultivation of virtues necessary?- Which are the three roads of Hades and their connection to the "Van Allen belts"?- How are the penalties and rewards to our soul defined?- Where is Tartarus?- What does the spindle of necessity symbolize?- How are space time and the "Cuiper belt" connected?- What does the existence of Sirens and the three fates mean?- What is the procedure our incarnation?- What contract do we sign before we reincarnate on planet earth?- Which is the role of free will?- What does the mystery of the Dionysial theatre symbolize?- What difference is there between reincarnation and metempsychosis?- What is Socrates’ genius or our guardian angel?

In these talks given in New Delhi, Bombay, London, Saanen, Paris and Madras, Krishnamurti begins by defining what he means by the word discussion and what it means to go beyond thought. "I think, before we begin, it should be made clear what we mean by discussion. To me it is a process of discovery through exposing oneself to the fact. That is, in discussing I discover myself, the habit of my thought, the way I proceed to think, my reactions, the way I reason, not only intellectually but inwardly. It is really exposing oneself not merely verbally but actually so that the discussion becomes a thing worth while - to discover for ourselves how we think. Because, I feel if we could be serious enough for an hour or a little more and really fathom and delve into ourselves as much as we can, we shall be able to release, not through any action of will, a certain sense of energy which is all the time awake, which is beyond thought."

In these talks in India , Krishnamurti begins by stating his intention to begin answering questions put forth to him by others. He points out that if an answer is to be right, the question itself must also be. "...a serious question put by a serious person, by an earnest person who is seeking out the solution of a very difficult problem, then, obviously, there will be an answer befitting that question."? An extensive compendium of Krishnamurti's talks and discussions in the USA, Europe, India, New Zealand, and South Africa from 1933 to 1967—the Collected Works have been carefully authenticated against existing transcripts and tapes. Each volume includes a frontispiece photograph of Krishnamurti , with question and subject indexes at the end. The content of each volume is not limited to the subject of the title, but rather offers a unique view of Krishnamurti's extraordinary teachings in selected years. The Collected Works offers the reader the opportunity to explore the early writings and dialogues in their most complete and authentic form.

Apology presents the speech of self-defence given by Socrates in his trial for impiety and corruption specifically against the charges of corrupting the young, and by not believing in the gods in whom the city believes, but in other daimonia that are novel.

After an interval of some months or years, and at Phlius, a town of Peloponnesus, the tale of the last hours of Socrates is narrated to Echecrates and other Phliasians by Phaedo the beloved disciple. The Dialogue necessarily takes the form of a narrative, because Socrates has to be described acting as well as speaking. The minutest particulars of the event are interesting to distant friends, and the narrator has an equal interest in them.

Of all the writings of Plato the Timaeus is the most obscure and repulsive to the modern reader, and has nevertheless had the greatest influence over the ancient and mediaeval world. The obscurity arises in the infancy of physical science, out of the confusion of theological, mathematical, and physiological notions, out of the desire to conceive the whole of nature without any adequate knowledge of the parts, and from a greater perception of similarities which lie on the surface than of differences which are hidden from view.

The Politics of Aristotle is the second part of a treatise of which the Ethics is the first part. It looks back to the Ethics as the Ethics looks forward to the Politics. For Aristotle did not separate, as we are inclined to do, the spheres of the statesman and the moralist. In the Ethics he has described the character necessary for the good life, but that life is for him essentially to be lived in society, and when in the last chapters of the Ethics he comes to the practical application of his inquiries, that finds expression not in moral exhortations addressed to the individual but in a description of the legislative opportunities of the statesman.

Elsewhere we have investigated in detail the movement of animals after their various kinds, the differences between them, and the reasons for their particular characters (for some animals fly, some swim, some walk, others move in various other ways); there remains an investigation of the common ground of any sort of animal movement whatsoever.

Such is the system which underlies the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius. Some knowledge of it is necessary to the right understanding of the book, but for us the chief interest lies elsewhere. We do not come to Marcus Aurelius for a treatise on Stoicism. He is no head of a school to lay down a body of doctrine for students; he does not even contemplate that others should read what he writes. His philosophy is not an eager intellectual inquiry, but more what we should call religious feeling. The uncompromising stiffness of Zeno or Chrysippus is softened and transformed by passing through a nature reverent and tolerant, gentle and free from guile; the grim resignation which made life possible to the Stoic sage becomes in him almost a mood of aspiration. His book records the innermost thoughts of his heart, set down to ease it, with such moral maxims and reflections as may help him to bear the burden of duty and the countless annoyances of a busy life. It is instructive to compare the Meditations with another famous book, the Imitation of Christ. There is the same ideal of self-control in both. It should be a man's task, says the Imitation, 'to overcome himself, and every day to be stronger than himself.' 'In withstanding of the passions standeth very peace of heart.' 'Let us set the axe to the root, that we being purged of our passions may have a peaceable mind.' To this end there must be continual self-examination. 'If thou may not continually gather thyself together, namely sometimes do it, at least once a day, the morning or the evening. In the morning purpose, in the evening discuss the manner, what thou hast been this day, in word, work, and thought.' But while the Roman's temper is a modest self-reliance, the Christian aims at a more passive mood, humbleness and meekness, and reliance on the presence and personal friendship of God. The Roman scrutinises his faults with severity, but without the self-contempt which makes the Christian 'vile in his own sight.' The Christian, like the Roman, bids 'study to withdraw thine heart from the love of things visible'; but it is not the busy life of duty he has in mind so much as the contempt of all worldly things, and the 'cutting away of all lower delectations.' Both rate men's praise or blame at their real worthlessness; 'Let not thy peace,' says the Christian, 'be in the mouths of men.' But it is to God's censure the Christian appeals, the Roman to his own soul. The petty annoyances of injustice or unkindness are looked on by each with the same magnanimity. 'Why doth a little thing said or done against thee make thee sorry? It is no new thing; it is not the first, nor shall it be the last, if thou live long. At best suffer patiently, if thou canst not suffer joyously.' The Christian should sorrow more for other men's malice than for our own wrongs; but the Roman is inclined to wash his hands of the offender. 'Study to be patient in suffering and bearing other men's defaults and all manner infirmities,' says the Christian; but the Roman would never have thought to add, 'If all men were perfect, what had we then to suffer of other men for God?' The virtue of suffering in itself is an idea which does not meet us in the Meditations. Both alike realise that man is one of a great community. 'No man is sufficient to himself,' says the Christian; 'we must bear together, help together, comfort together.' But while he sees a chief importance in zeal, in exalted emotion that is, and avoidance of lukewarmness, the Roman thought mainly of the duty to be done as well as might be, and less of the feeling which should go with the doing of it. To the saint as to the emperor, the world is a poor thing at best. 'Verily it is a misery to live upon the earth,' says the Christian; few and evil are the days of man's life, which passeth away suddenly as a shadow. ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?*** ? "MARCUS AURELIUS ANTONINUS" was born on April 26, A.D. 121. His real name was M. Annius Verus, and he was sprung of a noble family which claimed descent from Numa, second King of Rome. Thus the most religious of emperors came of the blood of the most pious of early kings. His father, Annius Verus, had held high office in Rome, and his grandfather, of the same name, had been thrice Consul. Both his parents died young, but Marcus held them in loving remembrance. On his father's death Marcus was adopted by his grandfather, the consular Annius Verus, and there was deep love between these two. On the very first page of his book Marcus gratefully declares how of his grandfather he had learned to be gentle and meek, and to refrain from all anger and passion. The Emperor Hadrian divined the fine character of the lad, whom he used to call not Verus but Verissimus, more Truthful than his own name. He advanced Marcus to equestrian rank when six years of age, and at the age of eight made him a member of the ancient Salian priesthood. The boy's aunt, A

Magyarázatok a Srimad-Bhagavatam tizedik éneke harminckettedik fejezetének 16-22. versáhez, az el?z? acaryák írásai alapján. A Na pāraye ’ham három része ?rī K???a, ?rī Caitanya Mahāprabhu és ?rīmatī Rādhārā?ī szeretetét mutatja be. Szeretetük egy-egy hatalmas folyóként h?mp?ly?g a prema óceánja felé. ?cāryáink kegyéb?l a bhakták megérinthetik ennek az óceánnak a partját, s néhány cseppnyi nektárt megízlelhetnek bel?le.

„Greu este s? fii bun“. A?a suna verdictul unui filozof presocratic la care m? încruntam abitir pe la 20 de ani. Acum, la 60, dup? ce am înv??at de la aceia?i în?elep?i c? „to?i oamenii sunt r?i“, dar c? „nu trebuie s?-i judeci“, nu m? mai gr?besc cu încruntarea. Doar zâmbesc pu?in ofilit, în dulce resemnare. Cu un astfel de zâmbet – trist, admirativ, îng?duitor ?i comp?timitor totodat? – trebuie întâmpinat (?i f?r? îndoial? iertat) Tomas H., personajul axial din romanul Cameliei Cavadia. Destinat fericirii, dar e?uat lamentabil. Vinovat inocent ?i egofil culpabil. ?i totu?i înseninat, dureros de triumf?tor în final, dup? ce altruismul învinge mizantropia, iar d?ruirea de sine absolv? vinov??ia. În fond, ce ar fi vina f?r? isp??ire? Un roman despre povara fericirii (chiar a?a!) ?i chinul permanent al demonicului de a surpa – prin patologia patimii oarbe – iubirea curat?, armonia conjugal?, farmecul divin al copil?riei ?i nobila condi?ie de p?rinte. Un debut surprinz?tor prin precizia arhitecturii narative ?i siguran?a rotirii caruselului cu multe ?i subtile rela?ii psihologice. În plus, îmbucur?tor prin op?iunea preponderent moral?, într-o vreme dominat? de anarhie, relativism ?i etic? în r?sp?r. – Dan C. Mih?ilescu ?„De când m? ?tiu am vrut s? devin scriitoare. PR de meserie, am scris pove?tile altora, dar mi-am dat seama c? am în?untrul meu propriile pove?ti care a?teapt? s? le dau via??. Tot ceea ce am f?cut pîn? acum a roit în jurul cuvintelor. Prin prisma meseriei mele, am scris sute de comunicate, am luat zeci de interviuri, m-am trezit cu zeci de fraze construite-n cap ?i am adormit cu altele bâzâindu-mi în ureche. Am hot?rât ca e timpul s?-mi urmez visul ?i s? devin ceea ce m-am sim?it mereu.“ – Camelia Cavadia

Dac? Riscul g?ndirii nu s-a bucurat de aten?ia meritat?, probabil din cauza exploziei nea?teptate de produc?ii culturale – ?i mai ales pseudoculturale – care s-a petrecut dup? decembrie 1989, noua lucrare a celor doi g?nditori, scris? dup? aproape dou? decenii, ar trebui s? aib? toate premisele pentru a fi receptat? cum se cuvine.Sub forma ?n?el?toare a dialogului ?ntre cinci personaje caracterizate – fiecare – de un stil de g?ndire bine determinat cei doi ascund nenum?rate giuvaere ale g?ndirii originale, penetrante ?i vizionare. Cititorul obi?nuit s? caute pe copert? elementele care s?-i permit? m?car printr-un exerci?iu deductiv descifrarea ingredientelor discursului celor doi autori va fi surprins la fiecare pagin?.Dac? ?cele 5 lucruri esen?iale pe care trebuie s? le ?tii despre via??“ reprezint? de cele mai multe ori o simpl? etichet?, sub care compozi?ia eterogen? a con?inutului, superficialitatea ?i caracterul facil al expunerii mul?umesc ?i conving doar pe termen scurt, ?n cazul lucr?rii celor doi filosofi rom?ni lucrurile stau exact pe dos. ?n cele cinci capitole care analizeaz? avatarurile g?ndirii sunt ascunse nenum?rate modele de ?n?elepciune ?i de disciplin? a logosului, f?r? a fi anun?ate, explicate cu toate determina?iile conexe sau accentuate ?n vreun fel. Acesta este probabil cel mai elegant mod de a r?spl?ti cititorii: spun?ndu-le cum f?r? a-i avertiza c?.Pentru cine ??i dore?te totu?i o etichet? care s? u?ureze clasificarea acestui volum, cea mai concis? ?i mai potrivit? este oferit? de un binecunoscut dicton latin: Sapienti sat. ?ntr-un ocean de solu?ii, Sorin Vieru ?i Terente Robert construiesc o insul? de probleme a c?rei tr?inicie este alarmant? ?i, ?n acela?i timp, reconfortant?.