Sign in with Facebook
“When pain and talent mix together, that’s when you’re able to persevere in your goals in life; the pain gives your talent something to feed into.”
―
―
“I have very little,â€� he said, and he spoke as if having little were the greatest fortune, and the greatest buffer against the future, that a man could wish.”
― A Single Pebble
― A Single Pebble
“Beauty means the scent of roses and then the death of roses”
― This Side of Paradise
― This Side of Paradise
“The so-called “socialismâ€� exceeded the mangiest recommendations of Keynes! Such a regulated state capitalism, such an intervention of the state in the economy like “socialismâ€� does, Keynes had not even dreamed possible! The exceptional assistance of the state for the monopolies and their coalescence in a constitution—still after the receipt of Keynes! There is no better application of Keynes’s doctrine than the “socialismâ€� of the twentieth century! Keynesian doctrine is an ideology of étatism, which strangely, was proclaimed as an essence of socialism! Keynes—the ideologist of the national debt, of the chronic budgetary deficit, and the inflation! His idea is the militarization of the economy, increasing workmen’s taxes, regulation of incomes through a “moderate inflationâ€� in favor of the rich and the “solutionâ€� of the economic crises by regulation of the money circulation. All that was so well carried and applied in the “socialistâ€� system that Keynes himself would have to wonder and to be proud of his “communistâ€� disciples! Actually, Keynes, by observing the Soviet Union, had understood well the role of the state and the monopoly of the capital and sincerely recognized, by contrast with Stalin and the others after him, that they were used in a wonderful manner for the confirmation and for the perpetuation of the sovereignty of capitalism but not for its abolition. His “planned capitalismâ€� is the same “planned socialismâ€� of the twentieth century!”
― Socialism Is Dead! Long Live Socialism!: The Marx Code-Socialism with a Human Face
― Socialism Is Dead! Long Live Socialism!: The Marx Code-Socialism with a Human Face
“I walked past Malison, up Lower Main to Main and across the road. I didn’t need to look to know he was behind me. I entered Royal Wood, went a short way along a path and waited. It was cool and dim beneath the trees. When Malison entered the Wood, I continued eastward.Â
I wanted to place his body in hallowed ground. He was born a Mearan. The least I could do was send him to Loric. The distance between us closed until he was on my heels. He chose to come, I told myself, as if that lessened the crime I planned. He chose what I have to offer.
We were almost to the cemetery before he asked where we were going. I answered with another question. “Do you like living in the High Lord’s kitchens?�
He, of course, replied, “No.�
“Well, we’re going to a better place.�
When we reached the edge of the Wood, I pushed aside a branch to see the Temple of Loric and Calec’s cottage. No smoke was coming from the chimney, and I assumed the old man was yet abed. His pony was grazing in the field of graves. The sun hid behind a bank of clouds.
Malison moved beside me. “It’s a graveyard.�
“Are you afraid of ghosts?� I asked.
“My father’s a ghost,� he whispered.
I asked if he wanted to learn how to throw a knife. He said, “Yes,â€� as I knew he would. He untucked his shirt, withdrew the knife he had stolen and gave it to me. It was a thick-bladed, single-edged knife, better suited for dicing celery than slitting a young throat. But it would serve my purpose. That I also knew. I’d spent all night projecting how the morning would unfold and, except for indulging in the tea, it had happened as I had imagined.Â
Damut kissed her son farewell. Malison followed me of his own free will. Without fear, he placed the instrument of his death into my hand. We were at the appointed place, at the appointed time. The stolen knife was warm from the heat of his body. I had only to use it. Yet I hesitated, and again prayed for Sythene to show me a different path.
“Aren’t you going to show me?â€� Malison prompted, as if to echo my prayer.”
― Sheever's Journal, Diary of a Poison Master
I wanted to place his body in hallowed ground. He was born a Mearan. The least I could do was send him to Loric. The distance between us closed until he was on my heels. He chose to come, I told myself, as if that lessened the crime I planned. He chose what I have to offer.
We were almost to the cemetery before he asked where we were going. I answered with another question. “Do you like living in the High Lord’s kitchens?�
He, of course, replied, “No.�
“Well, we’re going to a better place.�
When we reached the edge of the Wood, I pushed aside a branch to see the Temple of Loric and Calec’s cottage. No smoke was coming from the chimney, and I assumed the old man was yet abed. His pony was grazing in the field of graves. The sun hid behind a bank of clouds.
Malison moved beside me. “It’s a graveyard.�
“Are you afraid of ghosts?� I asked.
“My father’s a ghost,� he whispered.
I asked if he wanted to learn how to throw a knife. He said, “Yes,â€� as I knew he would. He untucked his shirt, withdrew the knife he had stolen and gave it to me. It was a thick-bladed, single-edged knife, better suited for dicing celery than slitting a young throat. But it would serve my purpose. That I also knew. I’d spent all night projecting how the morning would unfold and, except for indulging in the tea, it had happened as I had imagined.Â
Damut kissed her son farewell. Malison followed me of his own free will. Without fear, he placed the instrument of his death into my hand. We were at the appointed place, at the appointed time. The stolen knife was warm from the heat of his body. I had only to use it. Yet I hesitated, and again prayed for Sythene to show me a different path.
“Aren’t you going to show me?â€� Malison prompted, as if to echo my prayer.”
― Sheever's Journal, Diary of a Poison Master
Shayne’s 2024 Year in Books
Take a look at Shayne’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
Favorite Genres
Polls voted on by Shayne
Lists liked by Shayne
