On beauty / Da beleza

Por isso é que a estética é melancólica, mas catártica.
Ouvir Bach, Sainte-Colombe, Purcell ou Pachelbel faz chorar, não por a sua música, melancólica, induzir a tristeza, mas por nos incitar a uma beleza que nos dá vontade de viver, que nos eleva, que nos purifica.

Two must-read books

The Communist Hypothesis, by Alain Badiou, and The Idea of Communism, co-edited by Slavoj Zizek.

A few lines of verse

To whom these jottings might concern:

She awoke from a dream in a dreamless night.
Was it imagined, the dream or the night without dreams?
No matter, awake she thought.
Useless thoughts.

___________________________

Windswept leaves of fear;
Patiently stripped of power;
Conjured from the wastelands of despair;
Risen to the glory of love unimpaired.

___________________________

Alas, alas, what good is the past for?
Remembrance of the good, purging of the bad, learning from the mistakes one hath done.
What good is the present for?
Living. Loving. Defeating death.
What good is the future for?
Living the minute following the present, which in a minute shall the past become.