Art is a mirror not because it is the same as the object, but because it is different. A mirror selects as much as art selects; it gives the light of flames, but not their heat; the colour of flowers, but not their fragrance; the faces of women, but not their voices; the proportions of stockbrokers, but not their solidity. A mirror is a vision of things, not a working model of them.
-- G. K. Chesterton, 1910
I have split ...the trailing edge into two blogs, with the relatively serious content staying here, the relatively personal / local content moving over to Walking? In Houston!?, and the relatively worthless content moving to /dev/null. All my links to friends and local bloggers have moved to Walking?.
(I have no idea how Walking? looks on a Windows box—my hope is that it is at least readable, and I will have a chance to tweak it soon. It looks good in Mac OS X, which is what I used to develop it.)
I am inclined to think that history pays its way largely in the personal satisfaction of sitting on the fence and enjoying vicariously the trials and tribulations of men and times now ended; of enjoying the rare privilege of taking sides in their quarrels without in the least bearing responsibility; of sharing the good and the bad alike without the slightest feeling of guilt or a troubled conscience; of taking part in their victories and their defeats without the vanity of the one or the pain of the other; of enjoying their secrets to a degree that few shared them in their own time; of associating with kings and peasants, saints and scoundrels, without anyone questioning the kind of company we have been keeping.
-- Avery O. Craven, 1964
I own and respect several of the books on this list, but…"moan with intellectual pleasure"?
Talk about a cheap date…