Category Archives: The Coffee Table

A place for relaxation.

Stillness and harmony

Posted on January 19, 2011 by Michaela

Paul Cézanne, b Jan 19 1839 in Aix-en-Provence (born this day, 172 years ago)

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A free woman

Posted on January 17, 2011 by Michaela

An article about Aung San Sun Kyi and the hope for enlightened politics. A free woman (The New Yorker, Jan 24th 2011)

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In all ten directions…

Posted on January 17, 2011 by Michaela

In all ten directions of the universe, there is only one truth. When we see clearly, the great teachings are the same. What can ever be lost? What can be attainrd? If we attain something, it was there from the … Continue reading →

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You don’t have to understand life

Posted on January 15, 2011 by Michaela

It is a special treat to listen to Rilke’s words. This is from a reading of the great Viennese actor Oskar Werner. Du musst das Leben nicht verstehen Du musst das Leben nicht verstehen, dann wird es werden wie ein … Continue reading →

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Only in our doing can we grasp you.

Posted on January 15, 2011 by Michaela

Only in our doing can we grasp you. Only with our hands can we illumine you. The mind is but a visitor; it thinks us out of our world. Each mind fabricates itself. We sense it limits, for we have … Continue reading →

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Eve after the Fall

Posted on January 13, 2011 by Michaela

Auguste Rodin’s primary subject and source of inspiration was the human body, from simple studies to penetrating portraits to depictions of human passion and suffering–continually shocking the public with his sensual subject matter and frequent fragmentation and abstraction of the … Continue reading →

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Ah, not to be cut off

Posted on January 11, 2011 by Michaela

  Ah, not to be cut off, not through the slightest partition shut out from the law of the stars. The inner — what is it? if not the intensified sky, hurled through with birds and deep with the winds … Continue reading →

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You see, I want a lot

Posted on January 10, 2011 by Michaela

You see, I want a lot. Perhaps I want everything: the darkness that comes with every infinite fall and the shivering blaze of every step up. So many live on and want nothing, and are raised to the rank of … Continue reading →

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The last house of this village

Posted on January 9, 2011 by Michaela

The last house of this village stands as alone as if it were the last house in the world. The road, that the little village cannot hold, moves on slowly out into the night. The little village is but a … Continue reading →

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I am too much alone in this world

Posted on January 7, 2011 by Michaela

I am much too alone in this world, yet not alone enough to truly consecrate the hour. I am much too small in this world, yet not small enough to be to you just object and thing,  dark and smart. I want … Continue reading →

Posted in Books & Poetry, Rilke's Reality | Tagged , | 2 Comments