Marian Blog

Top 10 Quotes on Courage

Today’s TTT is “book quotes that fit a particular theme.”

As it happens, I used to collect quotes about courage, on my old Tumblr blog. Here’s a selection of them…

It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.

e.e. cummings

Closing your eyes isn’t going to change anything. Nothing’s going to disappear just because you can’t see what’s going on. In fact, things will even be worse the next time you open your eyes. That’s the kind of world we live in. Keep your eyes wide open. Only a coward closes his eyes. Closing your eyes and plugging up your ears won’t make time stand still.

Haruki Murakami, Kafka on the Shore

Should I, after tea and cakes and ices,
Have the strength to force the moment to its crisis?

T.S. Eliot, “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”

The best way out is always through.

Robert Frost

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

2 Timothy 1:7 (NKJV)

The fear of God is the death of every other fear; like a mighty lion, it chases all other fears before it.

Charles Spurgeon

From the true antagonist illimitable courage is transmitted to you.

Franz Kafka, The Third Octavo Notebook

Since it is so likely that children will meet cruel enemies, let them at least have heard of brave knights and heroic courage.

C.S. Lewis

From the start the Traveler had had no doubts about the answer he must give. He had experienced too much in his life to be able to waver here. Basically he was honest and unafraid.

Franz Kafka, “In the Penal Colony”

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.

Fyodor Dostoyevksy, The Brothers Karamazov
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Marian Blog

Top 10 Winter Books to Read

It’s the mosttt wonderful tiiiiime of the year! After saving PTO patiently all summer, I can soon take a chunk of time off to indulge in some personal readathoning. Here’s ten books I’m hoping to read this winter, a mere fraction and in no particular order:

  1. Datura by Leena Krohn (in progress) – Enjoying this surreal Finnish novel!
  2. The Boy in the Mask: The Hidden World of Lawrence of Arabia by Dick Benson-Gyles – Yes, I know, another LoA book. 😆
  3. Live Not by Lies: A Manual for Christian Dissidents by Rod Dreher – I have So Many Thoughts already on this topic… very interested to hear what this author says!
  4. The Transpacific Experiment: How China and California Collaborate and Compete for Our Future by Matt Sheehan
  5. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro – Second try…
  6. The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
  7. In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
  8. Bluebeard’s First Wife by Seong-nan Ha – Random book of spooky short stories I found on Overdrive. 😀
  9. David Copperfield by Charles Dickens – Not making any commitments to a chunkster here, but I’m falling in love with Dickens again as I read A Christmas Carol. I’ve never read DC, only seen films.
  10. The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoyevsky (reread, already started)

All that to say, I’m sure this list will change tomorrow…

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Marian Blog

Top Ten Non-Bookish Hobbies

Here’s a little levity for this angsty day: my top ten hobbies outside of reading!

  1. YouTube – I’m one of those hypocrites who is proud for not owning TV, while watching YouTube all day. 😆 It’s not all mindless… I listen to music and podcasts when I work, and sometimes political commentary in the evening, and then the occasional lecture or long interview. My current guilty pleasures are comedy skits and K-pop music videos (which I never-in-a-million-years thought I’d get into. See, people can change.).
  2. Music – I play piano and violin, when the mood strikes me. On my other blog, I listen to and analyze pop music.
  3. Cooking – A year ago, I set a goal for 2020 to learn how to cook. I started this past August, and now I cook every week and sometimes bake. Being mostly vegetarian cuts down some of the cost and unpleasantness!
  4. Writing – I love writing stories and poetry. I have a little book coming out in a week or two (self-published). More on that soon…
  5. Conversating – There’s few things so fun to me as long discussions about politics, religion, and history with someone who is open minded or at least won’t make it personal. Though I have strong opinions on certain things, I dislike debating from just one side; I prefer looking at multiple ideas and going over the pros/cons with the other person. I will sometimes play devil’s advocate if I feel a conversation is getting too narrow in scope. (My poor family is used to it now.)
  6. Decorating – Well, those of you who watch my YouTube videos know about this one. I’m fond of pictures, flowers, and figurines. I try to keep it budget friendly; most of it comes from Dollar Tree, Daiso, and Hobby Lobby!
  7. Movies – My family and I watch/rate movies together every month. Usually old movies (we have an ongoing Alfred Hitchcock project), but also costume dramas and indie films. I just started a Letterboxd account, not much on there yet but feel free to add me if you’d like; it’s sort of a Goodreads for movies.
  8. Walking – I used to walk daily and still love nature walks when I can. Recently, though, I’ve been getting my exercise at the grocery store (thanks, Freddy’s, for moving everything).
  9. Shopping – I enjoy shopping for home decor, lots of the time I’ll just window shop to see what they have. Hobby Lobby, At Home, Joanns, all those fun places.
  10. Sewing – To be honest, I haven’t sewn as a hobby in years, mostly for lack of time. I used to be really into it, making clothes and stuff. I still do small projects, like hemming pants, when I need to.
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