Russell Shorto · 384 pages
Rating: (6.6K votes)
“It was possible, as far as they knew, that the western shore, which in fifty years’ time would be christened New Jersey, was in fact the backdoor of China, that India, with its steamy profusion of gods and curries, lay just beyond those bluffs.”
― Russell Shorto, quote from The Island at the Center of the World: The Epic Story of Dutch Manhattan and the Forgotten Colony That Shaped America
“It was the Dutch of this era who invented the idea of the home as a personal, intimate space; one might say they invented coziness.”
― Russell Shorto, quote from The Island at the Center of the World: The Epic Story of Dutch Manhattan and the Forgotten Colony That Shaped America
“This book tells the story of that moment in time. It is a story of high adventure set during the age of exploration—when Francis Drake, Henry Hudson, and Captain John Smith were expanding the boundaries of the world, and Shakespeare, Rembrandt, Galileo, Descartes, Mercator, Vermeer, Harvey, and Bacon were revolutionizing human thought and expression.”
― Russell Shorto, quote from The Island at the Center of the World: The Epic Story of Dutch Manhattan and the Forgotten Colony That Shaped America
“Instead, power went to those who made things happen: businessmen and local magistrates. Over time, human nature being what it is, these men would create a kind of nobility, sometimes even buying titles from cash-poor foreigners, but this in itself underscores the point. Upward mobility was part of the Dutch character: if you worked hard and were smart, you rose in stature. Today that is a byword of a healthy society; in the seventeenth century it was weird.”
― Russell Shorto, quote from The Island at the Center of the World: The Epic Story of Dutch Manhattan and the Forgotten Colony That Shaped America
Russell Shorto
Born place: Johnstown, Pennsylvania, The United States
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“...they were exactly what the other needed; the missing piece that made everything else magically click into place.”
― Jennifer McMahon, quote from Don't Breathe a Word
“My husband claims I have an unhealthy obsession with secondhand bookshops. That I spend too much time daydreaming altogether. But either you intrinsically understand the attraction of searching for hidden treasure amongst rows of dusty shelves or you don't; it's a passion, bordering on a spiritual illness, which cannot be explained to the unaffected.”
― Kathleen Tessaro, quote from Elegance
“Wir sind imstande, Überschallflugzeuge und Raketen ins All zu schicken, einen Verbrecher anhand eines Haars oder eines winzigen Hautpartikels zu identifizieren, eine Tomate zu züchten, die im Kühlschrank drei Monate lang völlig faltenfrei bleibt, und Milliarden von Informationen auf einem Mikrochip zu speichern. Wir sind imstande, die Leute auf der Straße sterben zu lassen.”
― Delphine de Vigan, quote from No and Me
“Чувствах жарта вътре в мозъка си, разпалена и червена. Фий, поилки, хранилки, гълъбарник, кошници, курешки – всичко по дяволите! Бояджийска стълба, тръстика, топка сяра, гушести, червени очички и червени крака - всичко по дяволите! Паунест, качулат, монахиня, гълъбчета и гълъбища – всичко по дяволите! Таванска стая – само за мен, дупката на тавана – да се затвори, столовете – в таванската стая, край на разходките на гълъбите из къщата, кошът с прането - на терасата, прането – простряно на терасата. Кръглите очи и острите човки, перушината, преливаща от розово в ябълково- всичко по дяволите! Майката на Кимет, без да иска, ми беше показала изхода… Започнах да тормозя гълъбите, докато мътеха. Използвах, докато децата спяха следобед, качвах се на терасата и измъчвах гълъбите. Таванът на терасата беше като фурна, цялото сутрешно слънце се събираше на покрива и го нажежаваше, а сгорещените гълъби и вонята им го превръщаха в ад.”
― Mercè Rodoreda, quote from The Time of the Doves
“It was as if Simon had become my nightlight; even when he wasn't with me, he was illuminating the world so that I no longer feared it.”
― Tricia Rayburn, quote from Siren
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