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Quote of the day
Read more: Quote of the day“In the world of totalitarian kitsch, all answers are given in advance and preclude any questions. It follows, then, that the true opponent of totalitarian kitsch is the person who asks questions. (…) But the people who struggle against what we call totalitarian regimes cannot function with queries and doubts. They, too, need certainties and…
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Quote of the day
Read more: Quote of the day“The romantic movement, in its essence, aimed at liberating human personality from the fetters of social convention and social morality. (…) But egoistic passions, when once let loose, are not easily brought again into subjection to the needs of society. (…) By encouraging a new lawless Ego, it made social cooperation impossible, and left its…
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Quote of the day
Read more: Quote of the day“The Copernican theory should have been humbling to human pride, but in fact the contrary effect was produced, for the triumphs of science revived human pride.” Bertrand Russel – History of Western Philosophy (The Rise of Science)
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Quote of the day
Read more: Quote of the day“More and more of us live more and more separately from contact with nature. We have come increasingly to forget that our minds are shaped by the bodily experience of being in the world – its spaces, textures, sounds, smells and habits – as well as by genetic traits we inherit and ideologies we absorb.…
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Quote of the day
Read more: Quote of the day“… whatever else may be in perpetual flux, the meanings of words must be fixed, at least for a time, since otherwise no assertion is definite, and no assertion is true rather than false. There must be something more or less constant, if discourse and knowledge are to be possible.” Bertrand Russell – History of…
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Quote of the day
Read more: Quote of the day“Plato possessed the art to dress up illiberal suggestions in such a way that they deceived future ages, which admired the Republic without ever becoming aware what was involved in its proposals. It has always been correct to praise Plato, but not to understand him. This is the common fate of great men. My object…
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Easter itineraries – or in search of inspiration
Read more: Easter itineraries – or in search of inspirationNowhere else is the sweet stillness of spring and the cheerful chirruping of songbirds as soothing as in the Romanian countryside in those last quiet hours before Easter, at the foot of a mountain dotted with caves and age-old monasteries. We spent three days around the northern parts of Gorj and Valcea counties in southern…
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Quote of the day
Read more: Quote of the day“Men will always be what women choose to make them. If you wish then that they should be noble and virtuous, let women be taught what greatness of soul and virtue are. “ J.J. Rousseau – Discourse on the Arts and Sciences (1750)
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Women, mothers and really old ladies
Read more: Women, mothers and really old ladiesNow that March 8 is behind us (a day also known as Woman’s Day or Mother’s Day in Romania and, yes, flowers are expected!), it is time to introduce you to another Romanian tradition. This time, we’re talking about a really old one, dating all the way back to the Romans: the Days of the…
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Dragobete, Mărțișor and beyond
Read more: Dragobete, Mărțișor and beyond“Dragobetele pupă fetele.” Romanian folk saying (Dragobete kisses the girls) How many of you know that Romania has its very own early-Christian Valentine’s tradition? It’s a spring fertility ritual called Dragobete, which takes place on February 24, and it dates back to the Early Middle Ages. Not only this, but since the addition of Valentine’s…