Long ago, in the merry days of good King Arthur, there lived a ploughman and his wife. They were very poor, but would have been contented and happy if only they could have had a little child. One day, having heard of the great fame of the magician Merlin, who was living at the Court of King Arthur, the wife persuaded her husband to go and tell him of their trouble. Having arrived at the Court, the man besought Merlin with tears in his eyes to give them a child, saying that they would be quite content even though it should be no bigger than his thumb. Merlin determined to grant the request, and what was the countryman’s astonishment to find when he reached home that his wife had a son, who, wonderful to relate, was no bigger than his father’s thumb!

innd seama de multiplele referiri la istorie, ct i de importana i relevana perspectivei temporal-istorice pentru orice alt tem, ajungem firesc la cardinalitatea istoriei n discursul lui Emil Cioran. n noianul tuturor temelor sale obsesive, istoria este o mega-tem, aflat n puternice raporturi cu celelalte. Aderena i entuziasmul pentru studiul problemelor de filosofia istoriei le gsim mrturisite nc de la nceputul traseului, n cteva scrisori ctre Bucur incu din anii ‘30. n acele scrisori vorbete de pasiune, de gndire spontan i personal, de adaptare natural asupra domeniului, i se arat ncredinat c, alturi de problemele de filosofia culturii i antropologiei filosofice, problemele de filosofia istoriei nu pot concepe c lea prsi vreodat. Dintre multiplele justificri ulterioare – opuse ca atitudine fa de cele din perioada iniial, dar care marcheaz aceeai aderen –, s punem dou n corelaie, scrise n ani apropiai, n care preocuparea pentru istorie este descris prin stri de dependen: slbiciune, sete, patim.“ – Ioan Costea

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.

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.

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.

Areopagitica is among history's most influential and impassioned philosophical defences of the principle of a right to freedom of speech and expression. Today, Areopagitica is regarded as one of the most eloquent defences of press freedom ever written – and as one of the most influential, because many of its expressed principles have formed the basis for modern justifications.

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.

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.

La acest ?nceput de secol XXI, ?n ?ntreaga lume se intensific? studierea problemelor fundamentale, eterne, ca via?a ?i moartea, rostul vie?ii, originile ?i destina?iile noastre ultime, c?t ?i ?ntrebarea cu privire la existen?a de dup? moarte. Cartea examineaz? filosofia de via?? a budismului Nichiren ?n lumina ideilor de ultim? or? despre via?? ?i moarte, de?i cuprinderea exhaustiv? ?ntr?un singur volum a unei probleme at?t de vaste este imposibil?. Budismul Nichiren ofer? oamenilor mijloacele de a??i transforma destinele prin ?nf?ptuirea propriei revolu?ii umane individuale ?i dezv?luie calea spre pace ?i fericire.

Come on a journey into the nature of consciousness, finding the space 'between thoughts' as the most obvious place to recognize your true and eternal Self. We recognize overlooked aspects of the natural world around us; as ourselves, as well as using nature to demonstrate spiritual concepts such as God, union and liberation. Your true 'nature' awaits...---------------------------"No matter how it is approached, no amount of words will ever transmit to another person the indescribable 'ultimate Truth'. The fact that it's described as indescribable should be enough to stop us trying. Yet it's made even more difficult because of our troublesome human mind. As intelligent and magnificent as it is, it has a deep and tragic habit of confusing the symbols we use (for simple convenience) in our lives, for the actual things or ideas they represent. As Alan Watts used to say, it's like climbing a signpost rather than walking in the direction it points. Our greatest of misunderstandings is that we confuse the story and idea of who we are, with what is actually true; pure and simple. We make a false judgment on who or what we are, and you wouldn't believe the amount of mischief that arises in result.As exaggerated or humorous as all this may sound on first impressions, this habit of confusing symbols for reality is a very real problem plaguing our human world, and the implications are exceptionally far reaching. We have confused such things as money for wealth, status or fame for character and even the virtual world for real - but most appropriate to this book, is that religious or spiritual concepts are always confused for the things they are pointing towards. That's particularly true of our concepts of 'God', particularly true of Buddha's Dharma, particularly true of any teaching towards enlightenment or liberation."---------------------------"OmniscienceOh father in heaven, omniscience cannot be. It makes no sense, no sense to me....***Between thoughts, your functioning remains flawless. Between thoughts you are ego-less, yet still exist...?How is it so that your heart beats without your control?How do migrating birds travel without directions, newborn horses stand straight up and embryos form without instruction. How does a plant know how to flower and a seed mature into a tree??Without thought or instruction, nature around you is already omniscient. Are you different from nature, or one and the same?***Young one, nature already exists in an omniscient state with no mind…?Between thoughts, are you omniscient?Mid-thought, do you believe you're not?"

A morose widower, Mr Glowry lives with his only son Scythrop in his semi-dilapidated family mansion Nightmare Abbey, which is situated on a strip of dry land between the sea and the fens in Lincolnshire. Mr Glowry is a melancholy gentleman who likes to surround himself with servants with long faces or dismal names such as Raven, Graves or Deathshead. The few visitors he welcomes to his home are mostly of a similar cast of mind: Mr Flosky, a transcendental philosopher; Mr Toobad, a Manichaean Millenarian; Mr Listless, Scythrop's languid and world-weary college friend; and Mr Cypress, a misanthropic poet.

The magi, as you know, were wise men – wonderfully wise men – who brought gifts to the new-born King of the Jews in the manger. They invented the art of giving Christmas presents. Being wise, their gifts were no doubt wise ones, possibly bearing the privilege of exchange in case of duplication. And here I have lamely related to you the uneventful chronicle of two foolish children in a flat who most unwisely sacrificed for each other the greatest treasures of their house.

A collection of magical stories based on old Greek fairy tales including: The Story of Perseus, The Story of The Argonauts, The Story of Theseus. Written by Charles Kingsley and dedicated to his children Rose, Maurice, and Mary. A little present of old Greek Fairy Tales.

The last of Dickens' picaresque novels which exposes selfishness, portrayed in a satirical fashion using all the members of the Chuzzlewit family. The novel was written after taking a year off during which Charles Dickens visited America. Similarly, young Martin Chuzzlewit, the old man's grandson, goes off to America to live through events which Dickens himself perhaps experienced or observed during his own travels.

Eve's Ransom is the story of a mechanical draughtsman named Maurice Hilliard, who comes into some money, which enables him to live without working. As part of his resulting travels, he meets and falls in love with Eve Madeley, a book keeper.

A son was born to a poor peasant. He rejoiced and went to a neighbour to ask him to stand as godfather to the boy. The neighbour refused. He did not want to be godfather to a poor man’s son. So the peasant went to another neighbour and he, too, refused. He walked from house to house, but could find no one who would be godfather to his son, so he set out to another village.

The Beast in the Jungle is one of James' finest short novels touching upon such universal themes as loneliness, fate, love and death. The story can be interpreted as a confession or parable about James' own life. He never married and possibly never experienced a consummated sexual relationship. Although he did enjoy a thorough experience of aesthetic creativity, it is possible that he still regretted what he called the essential loneliness of his life. The parable of the protagonist, John Marcher and his peculiar destiny speaks about the worth and meaning of human life.