
Honeysuckle Walks
a literature & philosophy blog

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Heraclitusβ fragments: fire as the arche of the world
Heraclitus was an ancient Greek philosopher who was born in Ephesus (modern day Turkey) in the 6th century BC. His ideas helped shapeβ¦

Schopenhauer on the human condition and Original Sin
Arthur Schopenhauer (1788 β 1860) was an influential German philosopher who, despite providing the foundation for much of modern philosophy, died in relative obscurity.

5 of the best philosophy-related books
Philosophers think about the most important questions in lifeβeverything from how to face death gracefullyβ¦

Aristotleβs horror vacui and the vacuum law of prosperity
In her book Dynamic Laws of Prosperity, Catherine Ponder introduces various laws that govern reality. One of these is the vacuum law of prosperityβ¦

Jane Austen and the era of virtueβand vice
At the heart of every Jane Austen novel lies a sharp critique of social values. This isnβt surprisingβ¦

Timeless quotes from Steppenwolf
In an authorβs note for the 1961 edition of Steppenwolf, Hermann Hesse described the novel as his most βviolently misunderstoodβ workβ¦

The philosophy of beauty
Nowadays, most people donβt attach a larger significance to beauty. At most, beauty is a quality that evokes pleasureβ¦

Fear, mortality, and authenticity
βTo be alive is the biggest fear humans have. Death is not the biggest fear we have; our biggest fear is taking the risk to be aliveβ¦β

Mimetic desire and immortality
Desire is like an eternal flame. We go through life stoking itβwe want a better job, to live in a nicer house, to be fitter or prettierβ¦

The art of imitation
Imitation is a natural part of human learning and development. While itβs often avoided out of fear of unoriginality or plagiarismβ¦

Seneca on anger
Anger is like stepping into quicksand. The angrier you get, the more damage you inflict upon yourself; just as the moreβ¦

Milan Kundera, original sin, and the ideal form of love
A core focus of Milan Kunderaβs novel The Unbearable Lightness of Being is love, and it raises questions about whatβ¦

Nietzscheβs eternal return
Friedrich Nietzsche βclaimedβ his doctrine of eternal return was his most important idea, the βgreatest elevation of the consciousnessβ¦

The tortured poet
The trope of the βtortured poetβ is intriguingβit conveys the idea that meaningful art requires or is enhanced by anguish, tormentβ¦

Mary Oliverβs White Flowers and the undiscovered country
I read a poem by Mary Oliver that stuck with me. Itβs called ββWhite Flowersββ and itβs about the boundaries between wakefulnessβ¦

Sin, Sirens, and the irresistible allure of sound
βSquare in your shipβs path are Sirens, crying beauty to bewitch men coasting by; woe to the innocent who hears that sound!β

Eden, omniscience, & John Keatsβ mansion of life
John Keats was an English Romantic poet who thought a lot about knowledge and uncertainty. In May 1818, Keats wrote a letterβ¦

Imagination, empathy, and John Keatsβ negative capability
John Keats was an English Romantic poet whoβs best known for his odes, like βOde to a Nightingale.β Despite a short lifeβ¦

Marcus Aurelius and the art of gratitude
Marcus Aurelius was the last emperor of the Pax Romana, a period of peace and stability for the Roman Empire. He was also a Stoicβ¦

Einstein on a higher power
βThe individual feels the futility of human desires and aims and the sublimity and marvelous order which reveal themselves bothβ¦β