Mastodawn

Great biography of an underrated figure in the early political movement and organization of Sápmi, during the height of the assimilation policies in Norway. Masoni was born into a poor Sámi reindeer herding family in Rana whose fate lead him to become a missionary in China while the Boxer Rebellion was brewing. As contradictory as his character seems, this did not inhibit him from meaningfully contributing to the Sámi political movement in the 1910s. In fact, his insights into the oppression done by western colonies on different peoples in the world sharply shaped his stance against the norwegianization happening in his home region of Sápmi.

(comment on Edvard Masoni)

Jullan Nov 30, 2023

I bought this after seeing the book review by @[email protected] a few months back. I've always liked Cicero's work so I'm pretty intrigued by this one.

(comment on How to Tell a Joke)

Gregory B Sadler (@[email protected])

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Jullan Aug 17, 2023

"Since both the benefits and the dangers inherent in listening are equally great for young people, I am of the opinion that listening ought to be a constant topic of discussion in one's own mind and with other people. This is especially so because it is noticeable that most people go about the matter in the wrong way: they practise speaking before they have got used to listening, and they think that speaking takes study and care, but benefit will accrue from even a careless approach to listening. It may be the case that in ball games learning to throw and learning to catch the ball are simultaneous, but in dealing with speech proper receptivity is prior to delivery, just as conception and pregnancy precede the birth of viable offspring."

-- "Essays", page 29

One reason why I will always enjoy reading ancient hellenistic philosophy is realizing how remarkably relevant their discussions on moral subjects still are today. Our technology may have evolved much further since their time, but our human nature most certainly has not.

Essays - BookWyrm

Selections from one of the greatest essayists of the Graeco-Roman world Plutarch used an encyclopedic knowledge of the Roman Empire to produce a compelling and individual voice. In this superb selection from his writings, he offers personal insights into moral subjects that include the virtue of listening, the danger of flattery and the avoidance of anger, alongside more speculative essays on themes as diverse as God's slowness to punish man, the use of reason by supposedly "irrational" animals and the death of his own daughter. Brilliantly informed, these essays offer a treasure-trove of ancient wisdom, myth and philosophy, and a powerful insight into a deeply intelligent man. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

Jullan Feb 28, 2023

In light of current events in Oslo, I am really motivated to read and finish this inspiring work written by a certain trailblazing Sámi activist a century ago.

(comment on "Inför lif eller död?")

Inför lif eller död? - BookWyrm

In 1904, Renberg wrote and published a 30-page pamphlet in Swedish entitled Infor lif eller död? Sanningsord i de Lappska förhållandena (Do we face life or death? Words of truth about the Lappish situation) making her the first Sámi woman to have her writings published. This work discussed several issues that were facing the Sámi, such as their education system, their right to vote, and their right to own land. The Sámi national spirit was reawakening at the point the writing was published, making it especially important. Renberg also encouraged Sámi women to work and help her in the cause. Throughout the pamphlet, she uses carefully crafted temporal rhetoric to enact resistance to Swedish colonization.

Jullan Feb 1, 2023

"Personal wealth draw us one way, humanity the other."

-- "On Duties", page 134

On Duties - BookWyrm

De Officiis (On Duties) was Cicero's last philosophical work. In it he made use of Greek thought to formulate the political and ethical values of Roman Republican society as he saw them, revealing incidentally a great deal about actual practice. Writing at a time of political crisis after the assassination of Julius Caesar in 44BC, when it was not clear how much of the old Republican order would survive, Cicero here handed on the insights of an elder statesman, adept at political theory and practice, to his son, and through him, to the younger generation in general. De Officiis has often been treated merely as a key to the lost Greek works that Cicero used. This volume aims to render De Officiis, which was such an important influence on later masterpieces of Western political thought, more intelligible by explaining its relation to its own time and place. A wholly new translation is accompanied by a lucid introduction and all the standard features of Cambridge Texts in the History of Political Thought, including a chronology, select bibliography, and notes on the vocabulary and significant individuals mentioned in the text.