“…they may inflict on them the most constant refutations without weakening them, and an avalanche of afflictions or ailments succeeding one another without interruption in a family will not make it doubt the goodness of its God or the talent of its doctor.”

-Marcel Proust (trans. Lydia Davis)

“Facts do not find their way into the world in which our beliefs reside; they did not produce our beliefs, they do not destroy them… (cont. below)

全敬清光

“Here we all are by day; by night we’re hurled / By dreams, each one into a sev’ral world.”

Old Soviet joke for today:

A man walks into a newsstand every day, looks around, and leaves.

After a long time of this, the owner says “Can I help you find something?”

“I’m looking for the obituaries.”

“The obituaries are in the back of the newspaper, comrade.”

“Not the one I’m looking for.”

Spread the love and acceptance #pridemonth

Scorpion and frog "the scorpion won't sting me if i grovel and beg enough"

[“Fantasy is escapist, and that is its glory. If a soldier is imprisoned by the enemy, don’t we consider it his duty to escape? The moneylenders, the know-nothings, the authoritarians have us all in prison; if we value the freedom of the mind and soul, if we’re partisans of liberty, then it’s our plain duty to escape, and to take as many people with us as we can.”]

Ursula le Guin, on the accusation that fantasy is an escape from reality

Today's Sanskrit bahuvrīhi compound:

लोभोपहतचेतसः lobhopahatacetasaḥ (m. pl. nom.)

"Those whose minds are smit by avarice."

From चेतस् cetas ("mind") + उपहत upahata ("destroyed") + लोभ lobha ("greed, confusion").

#Sanskrit #langsky #linguistics

Photo of a fragment of a clay tablet shaped a bit like a diamond. Although it is only a fragment, the cuneiform text on it is well-preserved. There is a vertical line down the centre which indicates it once had at least two columns. The colour is reddish brown

“Do not bend your neck for that which cuts necks.”

A Sumerian proverb, as relevant today as it was thousands of years ago.

Amended for current times:

Sie wissen das, und sie tun es.

With a disastrous punchline.

(Side side note, Heifetz’s translation of that passage above eclipses mine in skill and nuance. I highly encourage giving his a read.)

(Side note, one of the greatest translations of any text in any language I’ve read is Hank Heifetz’s translation of the Kumārasambhavam, The Origin of the Young God. The source poem is among the greatest in the entire corpus of Sanskrit literature, and Heifetz is masterful in showcasing its beauty.)

In some texts, herbs—especially medicinal herbs—are described as literally luminous. From Kālidāsa’s Kumārasambhavam (1.10):

“…where the light clinging to cave dwellings’ interiors from herbs that become playful oil-less lamps …”

…दरीगृहोत्सङ्गनिषक्तभासः
भवन्ति यत्रौषधयो रजन्यामतैलपूराः सुरतप्रदीपाः...

Unsolicited fun Sanskrit tidbit:

One word for “herb, plant” is ओषधि oṣadhi, literally meaning “burning receptacle” or “light-bearing.”

(From √उष् uṣ “to burn” + धि dhi, weak form of √धा dhā “to hold, possess, place”).

#langsky

In some texts, herbs—especially medicinal herbs—are described as literally luminous. From Kālidāsa’s Kumārasambhavam (1.10):

“…where the light clinging to cave dwellings’ interiors from herbs become playful oil-less lamps …”

…दरीगृहोत्सङ्गनिषक्तभासः
भवन्ति यत्रौषधयो रजन्यामतैलपूराः सुरतप्रदीपाः

something interesting i learned on my Italy trip last year:

"o sole mio" does NOT mean "oh my sun" (as i had always assumed).

"'o" (note the leading apostrophe) is the masculine definite article in the Neapolitan language. it's really "my sun.." (cf. Italian "il mio sole")

1/

Because it’s another sopping wet day in the Pacific Northwest, here’s one of the many Sanskrit words for cloud: अभ्रम् abhram, literally “water-bearer.”

Derived from अप् ap “water” + √भ bhṛ “to bear.”

Horrified Taylor Swift Realizes Football Happens Every Year

Horrified Taylor Swift Realizes Football Happens Every Year
theonion.com/horrified-ta...

“And I know that all I understand about living is having your your work to do, and being able to do it. That’s the pleasure, and the glory, and all. And if you can’t do the work, or it’s taken from you, then what’s any good? You have to have something…”

-Ursula K. Le Guin (Tehanu)

嵐影湖光
lán yǐng hú guāng

(lit. “mountain-mist reflection lake light”)

A phrase for a scene of mist-draped mountains illuminated by light reflecting off the surface of a lake.

From my walk around the WWII memorial this evening.

Fun! Sanskrit also preserves this via the verb root takṣ तक्ष् “to form by cutting, plane, chisel; to fashion, make.”

To everyone in a similar scenario: the tactic my doctor's office has taught me is to ask, in writing, for:
1) the name, board specialty, and license number of the doctor making the determination the treatment was not medically necessary;

उरग uraga (lit. “chest-goer”)

One of the Sanskrit words for “snake.”

I love that many of the orchids I thought were too young to flower are now in spike. Photos to come!