November 5, 2023
An ancient superstition: in some corners of the Christian world, it was considered a bad omen to meet a priest.
November 2, 2023
We tell ourselves we’re rational, that we don’t buy into any of that stuff—the visions, the dreams, the mysteries of the departed, our loved dead.
October 15, 2023
“Still, it was kind of you to share in my distress.”[1]
August 6, 2023
An old saying, an ancient saying: “Character is destiny”—sometimes it’s rendered “Character is fate”—it was, allegedly, the Greek philosopher, Heraclitus, who first said it. But it’s been said, since his time, for millennia by many. Because, of course, there’s a lot of truth to it.
July 30, 2023
I was in Paris this past week; we visited the Musée d’Orsay. Mostly I wanted to see Van Gogh; some of his paintings are on the top floor of that museum.