Welcome to my commonplace blog

The goal of this blog is to preserve a few ideas and quotes from books I read. In the old days when books were not so readily available, people kept "commonplace books" where they copied choice passages they wanted to be able to remember and perhaps reuse. The idea got picked up by V.F.D. and it's common knowledge that most of that organization's volunteers have kept commonplace books, and so have Laura and I.

I'm sure there are many other Internet sites and blogs dedicated to the same idea. But this one is mine. Feel free to look around and leave comments, but not spam.

10 March 2012

Journey to the Centre of the Earth (Jules Verne)

I read this "in parallel" with Laura. It's as cool today as it was when i read it for the first time, in Brazil (when i was probably as old as Laura is now).


Quotes:

In Sneffels Yoculis craterem kem delibat umbra Scartaris Julii intra calendas descende, audas viator, et terrestre centrum attinges. Kod feci. Arne Saknussemm

Descend into the crater of Sneffells Yokul, over which the shadow of Scartaris falls before the kalends of July, bold traveller, and you will reach the centre of the earth. I have done this. Arne Saknussemm

Oh, how hard it is to understand the hearts of girls and women. When they are not the most timid of creatures, they are the bravest. Reason has no part in their lives.

Thus were formed those huge beds of coal which, despite their size, the industrial nations will exhaust within three centuries unless they limit their consumption.

‘Science, my boy, is made up of mistakes, but they are mistakes which it is useful to make, because they lead little by little to the truth.’

‘So. Fate is having fun with me, is it?’ he cried. ‘The elements are in league against me! Air, fire, and water combine to block my way! Well, they are going to find out just how strong-willed I am! I won’t give in, I won’t move back an inch, and we shall see whether man or Nature will get the upper hand!’

‘Axel,’ the Professor replied very calmly, ‘our situation is almost desperate, but there are a few chances of our escaping, and I am considering these. If we may die at any moment, we may also be saved at any moment. So let us be prepared to seize the slightest opportunity.’

‘But the compass! The compass! It pointed north! How can we explain that fact?’ ‘Good Lord,’ I said disdainfully, ‘the best thing to do is not to explain it. That’s the simplest solution.’

No comments:

Post a Comment