“Men did not love Rome because she was great; she was great because they had loved her.” Having reverence and respect esteems. It is not shallow, but a deep investment in each other’s welfare. Civic interest shows love. Community circulates love. Fondness finds energetic partners for building with mutual principles. It cannot be bought or pretended. It is the love of the communal good that creates beyond passions and egos.
Thank you for your insights and look forward to reading again after many years.
This is awesome! Which part of the world are you? If you don’t mind sharing, that is! I have a great love for libraries. :)
I still remember my own enthusiasm upon getting a library card after having relocated to London, years back! Imagine! To be able to read all those books - for free!? Part of me couldn’t quite believe it. It was an excellent library too, in Hammersmith. :)
Hahaha it's gonna be fun reading something that's not my phone. I'm close to Vancouver in Canada but originally from Alberta. I need to read more so I can get better at writing. I'm trying to write decent reviews of all the crap on Netflix I've been watching after getting hurt at work :(
… Also; reading on your phone is just… *sighs -Obviously I’m not oblivious to the fact that we’re doing just that, right now; so the irony is not entirely lost on me! But I usually, with great pleasure, put my phone away for the rest of the day.
Reading, and feeling, real books, is magical… The smell of a library, too, is… *sighs blissfully
-And now I get kinda curious as to how yours look like!
I adore everything ancient, and I was recently gifted a collection from Shakespeare, which was published 1895-1900, from my local book dealer. My now most priced possession!
There’s just so much to take away from this message! First; I do hope that you are okay? Will you be off work for long?
Imagine all those books you’ll be able to read…! *yikes !
That’s wonderful that you want to write! But why oh why would you want to waste your time writing reviews on something that already wasted your time, if it was crap…? 🫢
P.S. Hillsdale College offers free online courses, which I highly recommend! They are just absolutely wonderful; and if you want to write, they have an amazing course on C.S. Lewis, on the importance of writing. They also have courses on Aristotle, Dante’s Divine Comedy, Paradise Lost, great books 101, 102, and many more! -and you can probably get those at the library to study, while you take the courses!
P.P.S I always wanted to visit Canada! And, hello from France. 👋🏼
Haha hi right back at you. I tore my ACL so doctor says 6 months minimum maybe more. Physio is going great though! Hope to read lots of great books. And well I'm writing to practice I did pretty good in high school but haven't done much writing because I work in construction. I did watch a lot of real crap, but here in western Canada, we call lots of stuff/things we like "crap". So I wanted to practice on movies or films I liked and already saw to see if I'm any good. The free online courses sound great! And Canada is great, but especially the West.n
May we all be like Aeneas on our houses and families. I prefer Virgil's depiction of a hero over Homer's to be sincere, as on my vision a hero is everything but selfish or glory-seeking.
“Men did not love Rome because she was great; she was great because they had loved her.” Having reverence and respect esteems. It is not shallow, but a deep investment in each other’s welfare. Civic interest shows love. Community circulates love. Fondness finds energetic partners for building with mutual principles. It cannot be bought or pretended. It is the love of the communal good that creates beyond passions and egos.
Thank you for your insights and look forward to reading again after many years.
Very well said Cathie! Glad you enjoyed this :)
Is there any (free) translation of this you'd recommend to a guy with a lot of time to read and not a lot of $?
I’ve only read the Fagles translation, and highly recommend it (either paid, or if your local library has it)
Otherwise Gutenberg has some free versions online. I’ve heard Humphries translation is a fairly easier read, but can’t confirm myself
Thank you!! Looks like I'm getting a library card for the first time since high school
Love to hear it Logan! 💪
This is awesome! Which part of the world are you? If you don’t mind sharing, that is! I have a great love for libraries. :)
I still remember my own enthusiasm upon getting a library card after having relocated to London, years back! Imagine! To be able to read all those books - for free!? Part of me couldn’t quite believe it. It was an excellent library too, in Hammersmith. :)
Hahaha it's gonna be fun reading something that's not my phone. I'm close to Vancouver in Canada but originally from Alberta. I need to read more so I can get better at writing. I'm trying to write decent reviews of all the crap on Netflix I've been watching after getting hurt at work :(
… Also; reading on your phone is just… *sighs -Obviously I’m not oblivious to the fact that we’re doing just that, right now; so the irony is not entirely lost on me! But I usually, with great pleasure, put my phone away for the rest of the day.
Reading, and feeling, real books, is magical… The smell of a library, too, is… *sighs blissfully
-And now I get kinda curious as to how yours look like!
I adore everything ancient, and I was recently gifted a collection from Shakespeare, which was published 1895-1900, from my local book dealer. My now most priced possession!
There’s just so much to take away from this message! First; I do hope that you are okay? Will you be off work for long?
Imagine all those books you’ll be able to read…! *yikes !
That’s wonderful that you want to write! But why oh why would you want to waste your time writing reviews on something that already wasted your time, if it was crap…? 🫢
P.S. Hillsdale College offers free online courses, which I highly recommend! They are just absolutely wonderful; and if you want to write, they have an amazing course on C.S. Lewis, on the importance of writing. They also have courses on Aristotle, Dante’s Divine Comedy, Paradise Lost, great books 101, 102, and many more! -and you can probably get those at the library to study, while you take the courses!
P.P.S I always wanted to visit Canada! And, hello from France. 👋🏼
Haha hi right back at you. I tore my ACL so doctor says 6 months minimum maybe more. Physio is going great though! Hope to read lots of great books. And well I'm writing to practice I did pretty good in high school but haven't done much writing because I work in construction. I did watch a lot of real crap, but here in western Canada, we call lots of stuff/things we like "crap". So I wanted to practice on movies or films I liked and already saw to see if I'm any good. The free online courses sound great! And Canada is great, but especially the West.n
May we all be like Aeneas on our houses and families. I prefer Virgil's depiction of a hero over Homer's to be sincere, as on my vision a hero is everything but selfish or glory-seeking.
I would agree! I think Virgil matured the concept of heroism itself by grounding it in piety (and perhaps civic duty)
🙏🏼