I read up a little bit about both these books and they seem very… Uplifting, positive, optimistic, insightful, blah, blah, blah… But this following quote struck a chord with me for some reason. I presume Mandela used it in one of his speeches. I do not know if it was written by Marianne or if it is a direct quote form The Course of Miracles. If anyone else does, fill me in. You can see the differences.
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine as children do. It's not just in some of us; it is in everyone. And as we let our own lights shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
~Nelson Mandela
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant,gorgeous, talented, fabulous?Actually, who are you not to be?You are a child of God.Your playing small does not serve the world.There is nothing enlightened about shrinkingso that other people won't feel insecure around you.We are all meant to shine, as children do.We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone.And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciouslygive other people permission to do the same.As we are liberated from our own fear,our presence automatically liberates others.”
~Marianne Williamson
On another note, I am currently reading The Face of Another by Kobo Abe. It find it very Kafkaesque (I just found out this is actually a word when Microsoft Word did not throw the red line under it) in the way that the narrator is extremely and overly introspective and in some ways self loathing. I have always liked that about Kafka. The translation I have is very good in my opinion. It seems to maintain some poetic quality. If you do like Asian literature this is a good read. And as I have said before, I love everything Japanese. It is not too heavy either. I can not really go into what the book is all about right now but I might once I am done reading it. For now all I can really say is that it has given birth to some fresh thought for me, which is always a good thing. To put it simply though, you could say that this book is about the masks we wear as human beings.
Aviesque… Apparently this is not a word as yet. And why the fuck not? Once I figure out a meaning for it I will be sure to use it as often as possible. I am open to suggestions.
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