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Hobbies.

Some people have athletic hobbies that keep them in shape. Some people have productive hobbies that give them something to show for it. I read. A lot. I love words. This year I started writing down the books I read and keeping a record of my favorite quotes. And because I too would like something to show for all the time I put into this hobby, here is a list of some of my favorite quotes from the year.

Full disclosure--I read a serious amount of Russian literature. and I highly recommend it all.

In no particular order:

Fathers and Sons: "What a word can do. He's found it; he's said, "crisis," and is comforted. It's an astounding thing how man believes in words. If he's told he's a fool, for instance, though he's not thrashed, he'll be wretched; call him a clever fellow and he'll be delighted if you go off without paying him."


The Candy Bomber: "In later years, Berliner would look back on that winter and remember the hardship, the hunger, the lethargy, the freeze and the deprecation. But they would also remember those months at the end of 1948 as among the most special times of their entire lives, as a time whom they treasured small pleasure for life, reinforced in the company of their family, grew tighter as a community."

The Brothers Karamazov: "Be not forgetful of prayer. Every time you pray, if your prayer is sincere, there will be new feeling and new meaning in it, which will give you fresh courage, and you will  understand that prayer is an education."


The Brother's Karamazov was highly recommended. After I finished  I thought, that's it? That wasn't so great. But since then I haven't been able to quit thinking about it, rereading my favorite parts and sometimes (nerd alert) reading essays I find online. I could give you a dozen great quotes, but I will limit it at two.


"Above all, don't lie to yourself. The man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes to a point that he cannot distinguish the truth, and so loses all respect for himself and for others. And having no respect he ceases to love."


The Captive Mind: "Vulgarized knowledge characteristically gives birth to a feeling that everything is understandable and explained. It is a system of bridges build over chasms. One can travel boldly ahead over these bridges, ignoring the chasms. It is forbidden to look down into them. But that also does not alter the fact that they exist."


1984: I enjoy talking to you. Your mind appeals to me. It resembles my own except you are insane."

War and Peace: “It's not given to people to judge what's right or wrong. People have eternally been mistaken and will be mistaken, and in nothing more than in what they consider right and wrong.” 


Lost City of Z: "...how much of the discovery of the world was based on failure rather than success--on tactical errors and pipe dreams. The [Royal Geographical] Society may have conquered the world, but not before the world had conquered it's members."


The Last Lion: Winston Churchill, who suffered from his black dog, depression, all his life, after losing an election, "Life, though in complete, is often fun."

Who Will Write our History. This book was lent to me several years ago because I am borderline obsessed with the Warsaw Uprising. It details the secret archive that was compiled, maintained and hidden inside the Warsaw Ghetto. It is both depressing and inspiring. Reading anything about the Holocaust is incredibly depressing but primary histories are especially heart wrenching. Which makes them so essential in communicating across time. This quote was about Emmanuel Ringleblum who dedicated his life to compiling and preserving the archive: "His chances of saving the archive, small as they were, were still better than the odds of saving Polish Jewry." 

Also, "The moral component of relief work was as important as it's actual measurable results."

I'm making a list of books I should read this year. Any I should add to it? Favorite quote you read this year? Did anybody actually read this entire post?