

“You mean stop thinking altogether? No, I can’t, except maybe for a moment or two. Then the mind is using you. You are unconsciously identified with it, so you don’t even know that you are its slave. It’s almost as if you were possessed without knowing it, and so you take the possessing entity to be yourself. The beginning of freedom is the realization that you are not the possessing entity — the thinker. Knowing this enables you to observe the entity. The moment you start watching the thinker, a higher level of consciousness becomes activated. You then begin to realize that there is a vast realm of intelligence beyond thought, that thought is only a tiny aspect of that intelligence. You also realize that all the things that truly matter — beauty, love, creativity, joy, inner peace — arise from beyond the mind. You begin to awaken.”
― The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment
― The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment

“Your worst sin is that you have destroyed and betrayed yourself for nothing.”
― Crime and Punishment
― Crime and Punishment

“Don’t be overwise; fling yourself straight into life, without deliberation; don’t be afraid - the flood will bear you to the bank and set you safe on your feet again.”
― Crime and Punishment
― Crime and Punishment

“The man who has a conscience suffers whilst acknowledging his sin. That is his punishment.”
― Crime and Punishment
― Crime and Punishment

“I used to analyze myself down to the last thread, used to compare myself with others, recalled all the smallest glances, smiles and words of those to whom I’d tried to be frank, interpreted everything in a bad light, laughed viciously at my attempts ‘to be like the rest’ –and suddenly, in the midst of my laughing, I’d give way to sadness, fall into ludicrous despondency and once again start the whole process all over again – in short, I went round and round like a squirrel on a wheel.”
― Crime and Punishment
― Crime and Punishment

This is a group for anyone who wants to read the Chunksters (the BIG books like Anna Karenina, War & Peace, Les Miserables, Don Quixote, Infinite Jest ...more
Simon’s 2024 Year in Books
Take a look at Simon’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
Favorite Genres
Polls voted on by Simon
Lists liked by Simon