Berfrois

Intellectual Jousting in the Republic of Letters
theparisreview: A scattering of mind (like rainflung out small and squalledagainst the random panesattention turns to in its huntfor some lasting fascinationthat will hold its gaze and not allowa second scene to come and slideits heart away) is hard to stayand even harder to abide. —Ben Downing, “The Weather”Art Credit Heidi Swanson

theparisreview:

A scattering of mind (like rain
flung out small and squalled
against the random panes
attention turns to in its hunt
for some lasting fascination
that will hold its gaze and not allow
a second scene to come and slide
its heart away) is hard to stay
and even harder to abide.

—Ben Downing, “The Weather”
Art Credit Heidi Swanson

Marilyn Monroe and Arthur Miller, Reno, Nevada, 1960 Photograph by Eve Arnold

Marilyn Monroe and Arthur Miller, Reno, Nevada, 1960

Photograph by Eve Arnold

I think you can leave the arts, superior or inferior, to the conscience of mankind.

— W.B. Yeats

Stuart Pearson Wright, J.K. Rowling, 2005

Stuart Pearson Wright, J.K. Rowling, 2005

Neither race nor gender is an intrinsic feature of bodies, even though the markers of gender and race typically are. To have a race is not to have a certain appearance or ancestry, and to have a gender is not to have a certain reproductive anatomy.

— Sally Haslanger

Love Dog: Note to Serious Men

mashatupitsyn:

Men can’t just write serious songs anymore (Kanye West’s “New Slaves,” which I find arresting, but…) or make serious films or write serious books. They also need to date/marry/love serious women who are doing serious things other than dating so-called serious men. Women who actually reflect…

Marilyn Monroe and Arthur Miller, Reno, Nevada, 1960 Photograph by Eve Arnold

Marilyn Monroe and Arthur Miller, Reno, Nevada, 1960

Photograph by Eve Arnold

A room without books is like a body without a soul.

— Marcus Tullius Cicero