The ancient courts of ancient men

'Such is the power of words, of writing, of books. Words can summon up a skyline from the dark; they can bring back the people you loved and always yearn for. They can inspire you with possibilities you otherwise would have never imagined; they can fill your head with misleading fantasies. They can give you back your seemingly seamless past and place it right alongside your chaotic present.

"But that only happens in books," my mother, pretty much immune to the power of the written word, would say.

Exactly. That's why I can't stop reading them.'

- Maureen Corrigan, Leave Me Alone, I'm Reading: Finding and Losing Myself in Books

Thanks Monika. That sounds like a really good read.

And from Niccolo Machiavelli:

On the coming of evening, I return to my house and enter my study; and at the door I take off the day's clothing, covered with mud and dust, and put on garments regal and courtly; and reclothed appropriately, I enter the ancient courts of ancient men, where, received by them with affection, I feed on that food which only is mine and which I was born for, where I am not ashamed to speak with them and to ask them the reason for their actions; and they in their kindness answer me; and for four hours of time I do not feel boredom, I forget every trouble, I do not dread poverty, I am not frightened by death; entirely I give myself over to them.

- Niccolo Machiavelli, Letter to Francesco Vettori, Dec. 10, 1513