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Evan Shively (Perseus271)

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Edgar Colt

Vitor Miguel

In many important ways, the reflections of Marcus Aurelius (121-180) crystallize the philosophical wisdom of the Greco-Roman world. This little book was written as a diary to himself while emperor fighting a war out on the boarder of the Roman Empire and today this book is known to us as The Meditations.The Roman philosophers are not as well known or as highly regarded as Greek philosophers such as Plato, Aristotle, Epicurus, or Zeno the Stoic - and for a simple reason: the Roman thinkers were not primarily interested in abstract theory; rather, they were concerned with behavior, that is, understanding how to live in the everyday world and putting their understanding into practice; the goal being to live the life of an authentic philosopher, to be a person of high character and integrity, to develop inner strength and a quiet mind and value such strength and quietude above all else. Indeed, to accomplish such a lofty goal, the Romans realized the need for radical transformation, a complete overhauling of one's life through rigorous mental and physical training, like turning base metal into pure gold. And once a person takes on the role of a philosopher, their deeds must reflect their words - no hypocrisy, thank you! Thus, it isn't surprising the Romans put a premium on memorizing and internalizing simple proverbs and maxims and employed the metaphor of philosophy as the medicine to cure a sick soul.Turning now to Marcus Aurelius, we can appreciate how he imbibed the wisdom not only from the Stoics (along with Seneca and Epictetus, Marcus is considered one of the three major Roman Stoics), but he was also willing to learn from the schools of Epicurus, Plato and Aristotle. In the Greco-Roman world, being eclectic was perfectly acceptable; truth was valued over who said what.We find several recurring themes in The Meditations: develop self-discipline to gain control over judgments and desires; overcoming a fear of death; value an ability to retreat into a rich, interior mental life (one's inner citadel); recognize the world as a manifestation of the divine; live according to reason; avoid luxury and opulence. But generalizations will not approach the richness and wisdom nuggets a reader will find in Marcus's actual words. Thus, I conclude with my personal observations coupled with quotes from Book One, wherein Marcus begins by expressing heartfelt thanks to his family and teachers for the many fine lessons he learned as a youth. Here are four of my favorites:"Not to have frequented public schools, and to have had good teachers at home" ---------- After my own nasty experience with the mindless competition and regimentation of public schools, I wish I had Marcus's good fortune of excellent home schooling."Not to meddle with other people's affairs, and not to be ready to listen to slander." ---------- I didn't need a teacher here; I recognized on my own at an early age that gossip is a colossal waste of time and energy, both listening to gossip and spreading gossip. I can't imagine a clearer indication of a base, coarse mind than someone inclined to gossip and slandering others."To read carefully, and not to be satisfied with a superficial understanding of a book." ---------- How true. Reading isn't a race to get to the last page; matter of fact, I agree with Jorge Luis Borges that focused, precise rereading is the key to opening oneself to the wisdom of a book."To be satisfied on all occasions, and be cheerful." ---------- I'm never in a hurry. Life is too beautiful to be in a hurry. For me, there is only one way to live each day: in joy and free from anxiety and worry. In a sense, all of the meditations of Marcus Aurelius amplify this simple view of life.I've written this review as an encouragement to make Marcus Aurelius a part of your life. You might not agree with everything he has to say, but you have to admit, Marcus has a really cool beard and head of hair.

Dostoevsky’s most revolutionary novel, Notes from Underground marks the dividing line between nineteenth- and twentieth-century fiction, and between the visions of self each century embodied. One of the most remarkable characters in literature, the unnamed narrator is a former official who has defiantly withdrawn into an underground existence. In complete retreat from society, he scrawls a passionate, obsessive, self-contradictory narrative that serves as a devastating attack on social utopianism and an assertion of man’s essentially irrational nature.Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky, whose Dostoevsky translations have become the standard, give us a brilliantly faithful edition of this classic novel, conveying all the tragedy and tormented comedy of the original.

حتی نمی‌دونم از کجا باید شروع کنم راجع به این کتاب بنویسم. اول بگم که حتی نمی‌دونم به کدوم ادیشنِ کتاب باید امتیاز بدم. من مخلوطی از پنج ادیشن مختلف را خوندم: ای‌بوکِ ترجمه‌ از روسی به انگلیسی کنستانس گارنت، بعد آدیوبوک همین ترجمه با چاپی متفاوت، بعد چند فصلی آن وسط را از روی ترجمه روسی به فارسی مهری آهی خوندم، بعد از اون نسخه چاپی انگلیسی ترجمه پوی‌یر و والاخانسکی را خواندم، (خواندن این‌ها، حدود نصف بیشتر کتاب، نزدیک دو هفته وقت گرفت) و در نهایت نصفِ دوم کتاب را ظرف دو ساعت و نیم از روی ترجمه‌ی انگلیسی به فارسیِ احد عقیلیان، چاپ نشر مرکز خوندم. می‌دونم کار مسخره‌ای کردم، ولی به هرحال پیش اومد. از میان همه این ها ترجمه احد عقیلیان را خیلی دوست داشتم و سریع خوندم (طبعا چون به زبان مادریم بود)، ولی نثر و نوشتار ترجمه انگلیسی را بیشتر دوست داشتم (با این‌که کند پیش می‌رفت) و از بین اون‌ها هم ترجمه گارنت رو ترجیح دادم. ملموس‌تر بود. حالا برم سراغ خود کتاب. اولاً من اصلا کی باشم که بخوام به داستایفسکی نقد وارد کنم؟ اصلا از این مسئله که به کتاب پنج ندادم و چهار دادم خجالت می‌کشم. ولی چیکار کنم که لذتِ خوندنش برام پنج ستاره‌ی کامل نبود. خیلی سر خوندنش زجر کشیدم و بارها حوصله‌ام سر رفت و بار ها  چند صفحه رو روزنامه‌وار خوندم که به جاهای هیجان‌انگیز تر برسم. مدام منتظر بودم داستان طی یک سیر صعودی هیجان‌انگیز تر بشه؛ ولی نشد، و جذابیتش صرفا طی یک سیر سینوسی بالا پایین می‌رفت. شاید اشکال از منه که توی داستان همش به دنبال «کشش» و جذابیت می‌گردم. واقعا این ایراد بهم وارده. توی گودریدز چرخیدم و چندین و چند تا ریویو از این کتاب خوندم که همه بدون استثنا به نبوغ نویسنده و به شاهکار بودن این کتاب اشاره کردن. و بعد نشستم فکر کردم ببینم چرا من اونقدر حظ اعلا از این کتاب نبردم؟ انقدر من خنگم؟ و بی‌سواد؟ یعنی کتاب رو به طور کلی دوست داشتم، ولی واقعیت اینه که اون‌جوری که همه می‌گن به نظرم نبود! خیلی خوندم که می‌گن کتاب ما رو به اعماق تیره و تاریک ذهن راسکلنیکف می‌بره، ولی من رو که نبرد! درست، به افکارش برد، ولی جوری نبود که من کاملا مجذوب و غرق افکارش بشم. داستان برای من توی فضای بیرون می‌گذشت تا تو سرِ راسکلنیکف. شخصیت‌ها دیالوگ‌های طولانی می‌گفتن و من همش منتظر بودم راسکلنیکف تنها شه و به فکر فرو بره و من توی تار و پود افکارش گیر بیفتم و باز هم این طور نشد. نمی‌دونم. کمی از خودم ناامیدم که نتونستم اونجوری از کتاب لذت ببرم که ظاهرا هزاران نفر برده‌ن. حالا راجع به قسمت هایی که دوست داشتم:  قسمت‌های موش و گربه بازیِ بازرس پارفیری با راسکلنیکف حقیقتاً جزو جذاب‌ترین قسمت‌های داستان بودن. از بودن شخصیت‌های زن قوی و خوبی مثل دونیا و سونیا هم لذت بردم. از کل پروسه‌ی قتل، فرار کردنش از محل، خوابی که دید و صحنه‌ی مراسم ختم مارملادف هم لذت بردم. صرفا به طور کلی می‌تونم بگم اگه از حوصله سر رفتن های در طولِ خوندن بگذریم، از کل کتاب و فضاش و دیلماهاش لذت بردم. *اسپویلر در ادامه* اما بیشترین چیزی که نظرم رو نسبت به کتاب مثبت کرد، پایان بندیِ خوب و امیدوارانه و قشنگش بود. من همش انتظار داشتم راسکلنیکف رو بکشن. وقتی نکشتنش انتظار داشتم تو زندان دیوانه شه یا خودکشی کنه. ولی اون عشق و امیدی که ته داستان داشت، اون اطمینانی که داشت که این هفت سال می‌گذره و زندگیِ جدیدی بعدش شروع می‌شه، این که سونیا رو دوست داره و به امیدش زندگی می‌کنه، این که هنوز یه شانس دوباره، یه فرصتی وجود داره و زندگی به تهش نرسیده، این‌ها خیلی زیبا بود و باعث شد واقعا داستان رو دوست داشته باشم. الان به نظر خودم خیلی ریویوی سطحی ای نوشتم و حس می‌کنم اصلا عمق کتاب رو نفهمیدم. ولی چیکار می‌شه کرد دیگه!

Timeless lessons on wealth, greed, and happiness doing well with money isn’t necessarily about what you know. It’s about how you behave. And behavior is hard to teach, even to really smart people. How to manage money, invest it, and make business decisions are typically considered to involve a lot of mathematical calculations, where data and formulae tell us exactly what to do. But in the real world, people don’t make financial decisions on a spreadsheet. They make them at the dinner table, or in a meeting room, where personal history, your unique view of the world, ego, pride, marketing, and odd incentives are scrambled together. In the psychology of money, the author shares 19 short stories exploring the strange ways people think about money and teaches you how to make better sense of one of life’s most important matters.

The Ranch is a comedy revolving around a former pro football player who returns to Colorado to help run the family ranch business. The show takes place on the fictional Iron River Ranch in Garrison, Colorado, detailing the life of the Bennetts, a dysfunctional family consisting of two brothers, their rancher father, and his separated wife and local bar owner.

The series follows John Nolan, a 40-year-old man who moves from his comfortable, small-town life to Los Angeles to pursue his dream of being a police officer for the Los Angeles Police Department. He must navigate the dangerous, humorous, and unpredictable world of a "young" cop, determined to make his second shot at life count.

2018 American police procedural television series

Based on the real life of Walter O'Brien, a genius with an IQ of 197. Walter is asked by Homeland Security to put together a special group of gifted individuals to troubleshoot the most difficult problems that the US & the world may encounter.

American television action drama series (2014-2018)

A good-natured high school teacher working at his alma mater works with gifted but misfit and disinterested students.

After his friends all go their separate ways, Joey Tribianni leaves New York for Hollywood to pursue his acting career full time. His sister Gina buys him a nice apartment, and he finds a new roommate in his 20-year old nephew Michael (Gina had him when she was 16), who is literally a rocket scientist. Michael's book smarts and Joey's people smarts allow them to help each other out whenever they can, and make them nice companions.

While running from a drug deal gone bad, brilliant young college-dropout Mike Ross slips into a job interview with one of New York City's best legal closers, Harvey Specter. Tired of cookie-cutter law school grads, Harvey takes a gamble by hiring Mike on the spot after recognizing his raw talent and photographic memory. Mike and Harvey are a winning team. Although Mike is a genius, he still has a lot to learn about the law; and while Harvey might seem like an emotionless, cold-blooded shark, Mike's sympathy and concern for their cases and clients will help remind Harvey why he went into law in the first place. Mike's other allies in the office include the firm's best paralegal Rachel and Harvey's no-nonsense assistant Donna. Proving to be an irrepressible duo and invaluable to the practice, Mike and Harvey must keep their secret from everyone including managing partner Jessica and Harvey's arch nemesis Louis, who seems intent on making Mike's life as difficult as possible.

Cannabis legend Ruth Whitefeather Feldman employs her newly graduated son and a team of young "budtenders" to help run her Los Angeles marijuana dispensary.

A look at the lives of employees at a big box store.

Meet the wildly dysfunctional Bluth family. This family was once at the height of real estate development in Orange County, California. But when the family business - the Bluth Company - goes bust, they're suddenly found penniless with their assets frozen. They move into their last remaining asset - the model home left over from their latest housing tract. Their luxury vehicles are replaced with a reminder of the family's former wealth: 'the stair car that accompanied their private jet'. The patriarch of the family is George Bluth - he's now in prison, and loving every minute of it. His wife Lucille and daughter Lindsay are spoiled socialites who can't handle getting kicked out of family restaurants. His son Buster is in his mid 30's and lives at home. His son George Oscar Bluth is a magician who started a group to get magicians to be taken seriously, and gets kicked out when his own tricks are revealed. Lindsay is married to a man named Tobias Funke, once a psychiatrist, who decides to become an actor. The only sane member of the family: Michael Bluth, along with his son George Michael, want nothing to do with the family business. But one bizarre circumstance after another keeps Michael and George Michael from leaving their eccentric family.

It's 1989, and 9-year-old Sheldon Cooper has skipped four grades to start high school along with his less-intellectual older brother. As he struggles to be understood by his family, classmates, and neighbors, his mother arms him with the best tool she has: reminding bullies that his dad is the football coach and his brother is on the team. His twin sister doesn't share his exceptional mind, but she is brilliant at reading people and has a much clearer vision of what life has in store for the young genius.

After being rescued from an underground bunker in which she lived the past fifteen years, Kimmy Schmidt decides to move to New York City to have a normal life. She makes friends with her new roommate Titus, and works as a babysitter for Jacqueline Voorhees, the wife of a billionaire with many issues. Even though many obstacles are thrown her way, Kimmy makes the best of her new life while having to adapt to the new world around her.

Inspired by the television series and the feature film, S.W.A.T. stars Shemar Moore as a former Marine and locally born and raised S.W.A.T. sergeant, tasked to run a specialized tactical unit that is the last stop in law enforcement in Los Angeles. Torn between loyalty to where he was raised and allegiance to his brothers in blue, Daniel "Hondo" Harrelson strives to bridge the divide between his two worlds and acclimate to his new duties as the legal guardian of a teenager. Hondo's elite unit includes David "Deacon" Kay, an experienced S.W.A.T. officer and dedicated family man who always puts the team first; Christina "Chris" Alonso, a skilled officer and the team's canine trainer; Dominique Luca, an expert driver who gets them in and out of high risk situations; Victor Tan, who started in the LAPD Hollywood Division and uses his confidential informants in the community to help the team; and Jim Street, the team's cocky newest member who is re-instated to S.W.A.T. after being fired for compromising the unit. Responsible for the management of all Metro Division S.W.A.T. units is Commander Robert Hicks, a senior LAPD official with the Special Operations Bureau. Following Captain Jessica Cortez's departure for the FBI, the Mayor assigns Lieutenant Piper Lynch to SWAT as a tactical consultant, where she challenges the team's field strategy, which raises questions about her loyalty. With Hondo leading the charge, these dedicated men and women bravely put themselves at risk to protect their community and save lives.

American crime drama television series (2017)

Captain Ray Holt takes over Brooklyn's 99th precinct, which includes Detective Jake Peralta, a talented but carefree detective who's used to doing whatever he wants. The other employees of the 99th precinct include Detective Amy Santiago, Jake's over achieving and competitive partner; Detective Rosa Diaz, a tough and kept to herself coworker; Detective Charles Boyle, Jake's best friend who also has crush on Rosa; Detective Sergeant Terry Jeffords, who was recently taken off the field after the birth of his twin girls; and Gina Linetti, the precinct's sarcastic administrator.

A former lawyer attends a community college when it is discovered he faked his Bachelor's degree. In an attempt to get with a student in his Spanish class, he forms a Spanish study group. To his surprise, more people attend the study group and the group of misfits form an unlikely community.

American comedy television series created by Dan Harmon

Told from the perspective of an unseen documentary filmmaker, the series offers an honest, often-hilarious perspective of family life. Parents Phil and Claire yearn for an honest, open relationship with their three kids, but a daughter who is trying to grow up too fast, another who is too smart for her own good, and a rambunctious young son make it challenging. Claire's dad Jay and his Latina wife Gloria are raising two sons together, but people sometimes believe Jay to be Gloria's father. Jay's gay son Mitchell and his partner Cameron have adopted a little Asian girl, completing one big -- straight, gay, multicultural, traditional -- happy family.

The people tasked with creating a sixth branch of the armed services: The Space Force.

In this popular African-American sitcom, Will Smith (played by

A mediocre paper company in the hands of Scranton, PA branch manager Michael Scott. This mockumentary follows the everyday lives of the manager and the employees he "manages." The crew follows the employees around 24/7 and captures their quite humorous and bizarre encounters as they will do what it takes to keep the company thriving.

Hans Wurst

Jack Bourdain, a once famous chef, has hit rock bottom. Out of the blue, Jack is offered an opportunity to get back in the game as head chef at a top New York restaurant. There's just one problem: the owner gives Jack a mere 48 hours to fully staff his kitchen and prepare to dazzle over 300 customers - including the food critic for the New York Times.

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