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෴⁠  “𝑨𝒓𝒆 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒖𝒏𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒚 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚’𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆?” “𝒀𝒆𝒔, 𝑪𝒉𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒆, 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒖𝒏𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒚 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒖𝒏𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒃𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒏.” 🥀

𝘼 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙜𝙚𝙙𝙮! 

✦ “𝑯𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒂𝒔 𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒊𝒍𝒚 𝒌𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒖𝒔.’ ‘𝑫𝒐𝒆𝒔 𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒔𝒐 𝒎𝒖𝒄𝒉?’ ‘𝒀𝒆𝒔, 𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒑 𝒂𝒕 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒎𝒆, 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒎𝒖𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒓.’ ”

But in the end he dies for her:

✦ “𝑰 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒎𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒇𝒂𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒇𝒖𝒍 𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅, 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒅𝒊𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒉𝒆𝒓. 𝑺𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒆𝒅, 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒎𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔! 𝑨𝒉, 𝑫𝒂𝒓𝒐𝒈𝒂, 𝒂𝒔 𝑰 𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒔 𝒎𝒚 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒏 𝒂𝒔𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝑰 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒃𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒅: 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅: “𝑷𝒐𝒐𝒓, 𝒑𝒐𝒐𝒓 𝒖𝒏𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒚 𝑬𝒓𝒊𝒌!” 


𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝖕𝖍𝖆𝖓𝖙𝖔𝖒 𝖔𝖋 𝖔𝖕𝖊𝖗𝖆:

 “𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘰𝘮 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘖𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘢 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘴𝘵”
“𝘠𝘦𝘴, 𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘥, 𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘶𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘨𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘵 – 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴, 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘸”

The phantom is introduced in the beginning of the book and we are filled with thrill and there's a mystery about him. I went from being intrigued by him and to almost hating him and finally accepting him and loving him. He's grey character, he's a murderer, a criminal, a stalker but he doesn't enjoy doing any of it, all he ever wanted was just to be loved, to be looked at and it breaks my  heart that he never experienced that love which he craved so much.But in the end i believe he did get a glimpse of it in Christine and that fulfills his wishes and he eventually redeems himself in a way.

𔓕 “𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘦𝘵, 𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯, 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢 𝘣𝘢𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘯. 𝘓𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘦𝘦! 𝘛𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥, 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘐 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧. 𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦, 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘭𝘢𝘮𝘣; 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘥𝘰 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘥.’ ”

𔓕 “𝘖𝘧 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 … 𝘋𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘢 … 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘥𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 … 𝘰𝘧 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 … 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘵 … 𝘓𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯 … 𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘰 … 𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 … 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦 … 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭 … 𝘴𝘰 𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦 … 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘴𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳 … 𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦, 𝘋𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘢 … 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘐 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘬𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯 … 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦 … 𝘴𝘰 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭 … 𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘧 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘥!”

𔓕 “𝘐 𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘴𝘬 𝘴𝘰 𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 … 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺! 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘦! 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦, 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘦, 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘦. 𝘞𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳! 𝘈𝘭𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘺 𝘎𝘰𝘥, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘧𝘰𝘳!’ ”

This broke my heart ngl... 

He did love Christine,  yess he was obsessed with her, he was crazy and stalked her but he loved her as well and it was eventually the love that saved all of them. And as for Christine she didn't love him but she definitely liked him, she had a soft corner for him despite everything:

❥ “𝑯𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒔 𝒎𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒐𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒚𝒆𝒕 𝑰 𝒅𝒐 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒉𝒊𝒎. 𝑯𝒐𝒘 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝑰 𝒉𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒉𝒊𝒎, 𝑹𝒂𝒐𝒖𝒍?”

Christine and Raoul loved each other. And tbh I liked both of them. Raoul was nice and in a way he was obsessed with her just like the phantom:

❥“𝑰 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖, 𝑪𝒉𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒆, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑰 𝒄𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖?” 
“𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒎𝒆? 𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔, 𝑹𝒂𝒐𝒖𝒍.”

 ❥“𝑰 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒉𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒊𝒏 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒖𝒏𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅, 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖. 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒇𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑰 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒈𝒐 𝒂𝒘𝒂𝒚, 𝒔𝒆𝒄𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘𝒍𝒆𝒅𝒈𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓.’ ” 

 ❥ “𝑶𝒉, 𝒎𝒚 𝒃𝒆𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒅, 𝒊𝒇 𝑰 𝒅𝒊𝒅 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖, 𝑰 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒐𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒎𝒚 𝒍𝒊𝒑𝒔! 𝑲𝒊𝒔𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎, 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆.”

❥ “𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒕; 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝑰 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒔𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒓”

𝘽𝙚𝙖𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙛𝙪𝙡 𝙬𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜:

✦“He railed against himself, he
cursed himself, he begged my forgiveness! He confessed that he had lied.
He loved me! He laid at my feet his immense, tragic love. It was love that
drove him to abduct me, to imprison me with him underground! But he
respected me: he grovelled, he moaned, he wept!”

 ✦“My Don Juan has not been
composed to a libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte, nor inspired by wine, wanton
love and profligacy doomed to incur the wrath of God. If you like, I can
play you Mozart’s version, so that you may shed your beautiful tears and
indulge in pious thoughts. You see, Christine, my own Don Juan is not
carried off to Hell by demons, and yet he burns …”

✦“You wanted to see! Then look!
Feast your eyes, sate your soul on my cursed ugliness! Stare at Erik’s face!
Was it not enough for you to hear me, eh? You had to know what I looked
like! Oh, you women are so inquisitive!”

✦“understand that I am entirely made of
death – from head to foot – and that it is a corpse who loves you, worships
you and will never, never leave you! I will have a larger coffin made,
Christine, for when our loving days finally come to an end! Look, I am not
laughing now, I am weeping, weeping for you, Christine, who have ripped
off my mask and therefore can never leave me now!”

✦“ You clearly love him! Your
fears, your terror, all of that is still born of love, and love of the most
exquisite kind, the kind that one does not admit even to oneself,’ said Raoul
bitterly. ‘The kind that gives you a thrill when you think of it. No wonder: a
mysterious man living in an underground palace!’ ”

✦“𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒄𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒎𝒖𝒛𝒛𝒍𝒆 𝒂 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒂𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒂 𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅.”


Wow! Some books are just once in a lifetime experience and this was just it.

🥀    “𝒀𝒐𝒖’𝒓𝒆 𝒎𝒚 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒚 𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒆, 𝑺𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒆𝒕𝒕. 𝑰 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒗𝒐𝒊𝒄𝒆. 𝒀𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒃𝒐𝒅𝒚, 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒅, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒐𝒖𝒍 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒏𝒐 𝒅𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒕.” 
“𝑬𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒂𝒓𝒌𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒎𝒚 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒅?” 
“𝑬𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒅𝒂𝒓𝒌𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔.”  ♡


So this is a modern day retelling of 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘰𝘮 𝘖𝘧 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘖𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘢. Dark romance with stalker and mafia connections and a bipolar FMC, that's exactly what i was looking for. 

𝑺𝒐𝒍 𝑩𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒖𝒙 aka 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒐𝒎 is our obsessed stalker who controls most of the New Orleans. However for some reasons he can't pursue her in open and has to watch her from the shadows. But he makes sure she's aware of him. He writes her letters, sends her flowers and becomes her demon of music 

❥ “𝑰 𝒆𝒏𝒗𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒐𝒖𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖. 𝑰𝒕 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒔 𝒎𝒆 𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒂𝒓𝒌."

❥ 𝑻𝒐𝒏 𝒅é𝒎𝒐𝒏 𝒅𝒆 𝒍𝒂 𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒊𝒒𝒖𝒆 
“𝒀𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒅𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒊𝒄.” 


𝑺𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒆𝒕𝒕 𝑫𝒂𝒚 is just as obsessed with him as he's with her. She has bipolar disorder and this affects her a lot and for the f rst time in her life she feels safe with someone who understands her illness and doesn't make her feel bad about it. Sol makes sure she doesn't relapse into depression or a manic episode. From her sleep schedule to her medicine he takes care of everything. 
He knows everything.

❥“𝑶𝒌𝒂𝒚, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒘𝒉𝒚 𝒅𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒔𝒐 𝒎𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒎𝒆?”
“𝑩𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈”.

❥“𝒀𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕, 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒅𝒂𝒓𝒌𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔, 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒑𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏… 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒖𝒎𝒆𝒅 𝒎𝒆 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒎𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕. 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒏 𝒐𝒃𝒔𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏. 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈.”

They embrace each other's dark sides and bring out the best of each other. 

❥ “𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒎𝒚 𝒎𝒐𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 ” 
“𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒎𝒚 𝒎𝒊𝒅𝒏𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕” 

❥ “𝑰 𝒔𝒂𝒘 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒅𝒂𝒓𝒌𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒏𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕, 𝑺𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒆𝒕𝒕. 𝒀𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒅𝒂𝒓𝒌𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒆. 𝑴𝒚 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒑𝒊𝒕𝒄𝒉 𝒃𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒃𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖. 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒚 𝒎𝒊𝒅𝒏𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕.” 

❥ “𝑻𝒐 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒆𝒍𝒔𝒆, 𝒉𝒆’𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑷𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒐𝒎 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑭𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒉 𝑸𝒖𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒆𝒓, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒆, 𝒉𝒆’𝒔 𝒎𝒚 𝒅𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒊𝒄.”

❥ “𝑺𝒉𝒆’𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒚 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒔. 𝑺𝒉𝒆’𝒔 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒆.”

❥ “𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆, 𝒎𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒎𝒐𝒖𝒓. 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒎𝒆. 𝑻𝒓𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒎𝒆.” 

Smut was great too, i mean on my knees type of great 🧎🏻‍♀️ 
The praise kinks omg😭🧜🏻‍♀️

✧ “𝑶𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒌𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒔, 𝒎𝒂 𝒋𝒐𝒍𝒊𝒆 𝒑𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒆. 𝑺𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒎𝒆 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒃𝒂𝒅𝒍𝒚 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒎𝒚 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔.”

✧ “𝑭𝒖𝒄𝒌, 𝑺𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒆𝒕𝒕. 𝑴𝒐𝒂𝒏 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒎𝒆, 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕, 𝒃𝒂𝒃𝒚. 𝑹𝒆𝒍𝒂𝒙 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒕𝒐𝒏𝒈𝒖𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒖𝒄𝒌 𝒎𝒆 𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏. 𝑰 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒆 𝒗𝒐𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒔 𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒎𝒆.” 

✧ “𝑻𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒎𝒆, 𝒎𝒚 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒚 𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒆. 𝑻𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒎𝒆 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝑰’𝒎 𝒔𝒖𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒚 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒃𝒆𝒈 𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆?” 

✧ “𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒅𝒊𝒅 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅, 𝒃𝒂𝒃𝒚. 𝑺𝒐 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅, 𝒎𝒂 𝒄𝒉é𝒓𝒊𝒆.”

✧ “𝑱𝒂𝒎𝒂𝒊𝒔, 𝒎𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒎𝒐𝒖𝒓. 𝑰 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖.”

✧ “𝑰’𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒅𝒂𝒎𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒇 𝑰 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒑𝒖𝒕 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒃𝒆𝒕𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒖𝒔”

The go through a lot of stuff but eventually they figure out everything and live happily ever after 🫰🏻

♡ “𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒆, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒆. 𝑴𝒚 𝑷𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒐𝒎 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑭𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒉 𝑸𝒖𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒆𝒓. 𝑴𝒚 𝒅𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒊𝒄” ♡

🍂 “𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙚𝙡𝙨𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙛𝙧𝙚𝙚𝙙𝙤𝙢 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙤 𝙡𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙮 𝙬𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩?” 
‘𝙉𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜.’

Surprisingly it was an easy read.
Looking forward to read more stoic literature.

Quotes :

▪️“𝘌𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘵𝘶𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘚𝘰𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘧 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘯𝘰 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘦, 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘥. 𝘐 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯, 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘦 𝘔𝘪𝘭𝘰 𝘦𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳; 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴, 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘯𝘦𝘨𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘮𝘺 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺. 𝘕𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘐 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘊𝘳𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭, 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘯𝘦𝘨𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘮𝘺 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘺.”

▪️“𝘐𝘯 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘵, 𝘸𝘦 𝘥𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘵.”

Exactly like just because i am not the best in something doesn't mean i have to completely give up. We give our best efforts and we will surely get the results.


▪️“𝘍𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘰𝘮 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘧𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘳𝘦, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘣𝘺 𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵”

▪️“𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘰𝘮 𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘴, 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘴 – 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘰𝘤𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘺𝘦𝘥.  𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘦, 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘭𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦, 𝘶𝘯𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘰𝘮, 𝘺𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘳 𝘨𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶.”

▪️“𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘭; 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘥. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘶𝘯𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘴.”

Here he's talking about taming our desires, if we let them in then they eventually ruin us.

▪️“𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 (𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘣𝘺 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘯𝘰𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵): 𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘦𝘹𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘴; 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘰𝘸𝘯; 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘪𝘵𝘺.”

“I rebel, therefore we exist.”


Excellent read, focusing on various historical events from Russian revolution to communism and World war II, Camus discusses about rebellion and revolution.
The book is a abridged version of 'The Rebel' so I'll be probably reading that one to have a better understanding but nevertheless this was a great read.

“𝑯𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒑𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒖𝒑 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒑𝒂𝒅𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒅𝒖𝒈 𝒂 𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒆𝒏𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝑷𝒂𝒌𝒉𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒐 𝒍𝒊𝒆 𝒊𝒏, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒃𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒊𝒏 𝒊𝒕. 𝑺𝒊𝒙 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒕 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒉𝒆𝒆𝒍𝒔 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅𝒆𝒅.”

Greed is the worst temptation and nothing satisfies it, it only grows, it's infinite...

“𝑰 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒅𝒊𝒆. 𝑰 𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒅𝒊𝒆. 𝑳𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒕𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒄𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒔𝒊𝒏.” 

Depressing ngl. I could see the nihilistic ideology & undertones in the book. How Yozo see's his life and people around him and his subsequent downfall in life is extremely depressing. Yozo goes through abuse in childhood and i think that's what subsequently numbs him to life but it's indicated that he had already somehow developed a nihilistic approach to life and it seems his parents especially his father neglected him. And then growing up he lives in a facade, he doesn't let people see his true nature because he's afraid of them. He loathes life and then when probably for the 1st time he falls in love with someone, she dies.

"𝙎𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙞𝙚𝙙. 𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙨𝙖𝙫𝙚𝙙."

After this incident, he probably goes into a guilt trip and eventually his addiction to alcohol just increases. Then with some hope he marries Yoshiko and makes some progress but then the incident with Yoshiko pushes him back again.That scene is somehow confusing, because Yozo somehow implies that Yoshiko was sexually assaulted but then on other instances he implies she cheated on him. This also makes him an unreliable narrator.
And finally he falls into drug addiction and finally he goes to rehab, leaves Tokyo and lives in countryside and the novel ends

“𝑵𝒐𝒘 𝑰 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒏𝒆𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒓 𝒖𝒏𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔. 𝑬𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒑𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒔.”

“𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑰 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒂 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒕𝒉 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒐𝒄𝒊𝒆𝒕𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒉𝒖𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒃𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝑰 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒅𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒖𝒑 𝒕𝒐 𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒂𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒂 𝒃𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒍. 𝑬𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒑𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒔” 

 “𝑰 𝒔𝒖𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒃𝒆 𝒏𝒐 𝒆𝒙𝒂𝒈𝒈𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒂𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅 𝒊𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒖𝒏𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒚 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆”

Throughout the novel Yozo acts like helpless and pessimistic person. He shows almost no emotions whatsoever and ends up ruining his life. 

“𝑫𝒊𝒔𝒒𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒊𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒉𝒖𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒃𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈. 𝑰 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒄𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒖𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒍𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒂 𝒉𝒖𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒃𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈.”

There is a reference to Crime and Punishment by Dostoevsky in the book where Yozo is trying to find antonym for crime:

“𝘈𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘱𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘣𝘺 𝘫𝘢𝘪𝘭 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴. 𝘐𝘧 𝘸𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘺𝘮 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘦, 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘦 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦. 𝘎𝘰𝘥 . . . 𝘴𝘢𝘭𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 . . . 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 . . . 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘺𝘮 𝘚𝘢𝘵𝘢𝘯, 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘢𝘭𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦, 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴, 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥, 𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘭. 𝘊𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘳? 𝘊𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦? 𝘊𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯? 𝘊𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 . . . 𝘯𝘰, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺'𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘺𝘯𝘰𝘯𝘺𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘴. 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘦? 𝘊𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵. 𝘋𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘴𝘬𝘪. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘻𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥, 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦. 𝘑𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘋𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘴𝘬𝘪 𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘥 '𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘦' 𝘢𝘯𝘥 '𝘱𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵' 𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘣𝘺 𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘺𝘯𝘰𝘯𝘺𝘮𝘴 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘺𝘮𝘴. 𝘊𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵—𝘢𝘣𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘴, 𝘪𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘭𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘰𝘪𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳. 𝘐 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘰𝘮 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘤𝘶𝘮- 𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥, 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘣𝘪𝘥 𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘥, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘰𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘋𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘴𝘬𝘪'𝘴 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥—𝘯𝘰, 𝘐 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘦 . . . 𝘚𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘢 𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦.”

🍃“𝑰 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂𝒇𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕 𝒊𝒕, 𝒚𝒆𝒕 𝑰 𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒉𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒊𝒕.”

A confession by Leo Tolstoy deals with the idea of philosophy, religion and atheism. The book is also an autobiographical account of the author's own struggle with these issues.

Leo Tolstoy asks himself the question about meaning of life and fails to answer it thus turns to various ideologies to find the answer. He finds a sort of comfort in atheism and philosophy but still his question remains unanswered and he finds himself in despair wanting to kill himself. And when he's on the verge of suicide he finally finds the answer of his questions:

“𝑻𝒐 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝑮𝒐𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈. 𝑮𝒐𝒅 𝒊𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆.”

Tolstoy in the beginning tries philosophy to explain the meaning of life and he realises that life is evil, and we eventually have to die and he realises how meaningless life is in that case. He quotes Socrates, Schopenhauer and Solomon:

“𝑾𝒆 𝒈𝒓𝒐𝒘 𝒄𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒕𝒉 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒙𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒆 𝒈𝒓𝒐𝒘 𝒇𝒖𝒓𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆,’ 𝒔𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝑺𝒐𝒄𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒔.”

“𝑬𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅, 𝒃𝒐𝒕𝒉 𝒇𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒔𝒅𝒐𝒎, 𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒉𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒕𝒚, 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒈𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒇, 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒊𝒔 𝒗𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒆𝒎𝒑𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔. 𝑨 𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒅𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒔. 𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒃𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒅,’ 𝒔𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝑺𝒐𝒍𝒐𝒎𝒐𝒏. ”

 “𝑳𝒊𝒇𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒉 𝒊𝒕 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒃𝒆: 𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒍. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒂𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆,’ 𝒔𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝑺𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒉𝒂𝒖𝒆𝒓. ”

And he realises :
“𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆 𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒑𝒖𝒕𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒑𝒊𝒆𝒄𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘𝒍𝒆𝒅𝒈𝒆 𝒂𝒗𝒂𝒊𝒍𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒂𝒏.”

 He uses the fable of dragon in the well : a man who is chased by a beast into a well, at the bottom of which is a dragon.The man clings to a branch and licks honey from it while the branch is being eaten by two mice. The mice represent the time which is taking him closer to death and the honey represents the comforts of life. But once a man is aware of the mice an the bottom(death), he can no longer enjoy the honey(life). Based on this Tolstoy classifies people into 4 categories:

1.The ignorant people, these people are ignorant of the mice and the dragon at bottom and continue to live without consciousness of impeding doom.

"𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦. 𝘐𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘻𝘦, 𝘰𝘳 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘣𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘥"

2. The epicurean people: these people are aware of the fact that death is approaching them but choose to ignore it and live the life with what nature has provided them.

"𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘦𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘮. 𝘐𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘴, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦, 𝘰𝘧 𝘦𝘯𝘫𝘰𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘸𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘤𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺, 𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘧 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘩."

3. The strong and brave people: these are the people aware of the death and meaninglessness of life and simply choose to end it by committing suicide.

"𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘥 𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘺. 𝘐𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵."

4. The weak: These are the people who are helpless, completely aware of the absurdity of life and despite it choosing to live in the state of despair.

"𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴. 𝘐𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘦, 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘵. 𝘗𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘨𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘵, 𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘣𝘺 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨."


Finally he finds the answer to his questions in faith:

“𝑾𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝑰 𝒑𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏: 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒂𝒎 𝑰 𝒕𝒐 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆? 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒔𝒘𝒆𝒓 𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔: 𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝑮𝒐𝒅’𝒔 𝒍𝒂𝒘.”

“𝑭𝒂𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒔 𝒊𝒓𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒆 𝒂𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝑰 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒇𝒂𝒊𝒍 𝒕𝒐 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒈𝒏𝒊𝒛𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒕 𝒂𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒗𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒔 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒔𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒆𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒍𝒚 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒃𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆.”

 “𝑾𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒇𝒂𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒊𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆.”

  “𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒉 𝒘𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝑮𝒐𝒅.”

He finally finds peace in religion and evn though he's not fully convinced with the ways of church he still finds hope and “Will zum Leben”( will to exist) in God.

“𝑰 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒃𝒚𝒔𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒔𝒌𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒓𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒃𝒚𝒔𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒐𝒘, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑰 𝒅𝒐 𝒊𝒏 𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒊𝒕.”

This book contains 3 essays:

▪️𝘿𝙚 𝘽𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙩𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙑𝙞𝙩𝙖𝙚 - 𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚:  This deals with time and life, Seneca says that most people simply exist, they don't live, they waste their time and when old age/death comes they are shocked because they haven't lived yet. And that's why death scares most of us because we haven't lived, but just wasted our time on pointless persuits. 

"𝑰𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒂 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒕 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒆 𝒂 𝒍𝒐𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒊𝒕." 

"𝑳𝒊𝒇𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒆𝒏𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂 𝒔𝒖𝒇𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒍𝒚 𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝒂𝒎𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒖𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒊𝒇 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒊𝒏𝒗𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒅."

"𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒔 𝒊𝒇  𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓; 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒇𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒍𝒕𝒚 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒄𝒄𝒖𝒓𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖; 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒅𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒆 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒎𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒚  𝒑𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒅, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒔𝒒𝒖𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒊𝒕 𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒂 𝒇𝒖𝒍𝒍 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒍𝒐𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒖𝒑𝒑𝒍𝒚 - 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒅𝒂𝒚 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒉 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒗𝒐𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒃𝒐𝒅𝒚 𝒐𝒓 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒂𝒚  𝒃𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒕."

I think i kind of agree with all these points, we are too busy worrying about stuff, wasting our time and not actually living.

"𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒄𝒕 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒇𝒆𝒂𝒓, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒊𝒎𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒓𝒆."  

"𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒐 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒔 𝒂 𝒘𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆, 𝒂𝒏𝒅, 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒉 𝒎𝒂𝒚 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆, 𝒊𝒕  𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒔 𝒂 𝒘𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒏 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒐 𝒅𝒊𝒆."


▪️𝘿𝙚 𝘾𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙤𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙖𝙙 𝙃𝙚𝙡𝙫𝙞𝙖𝙢 - 𝙊𝙣 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙤𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙤 𝙃𝙚𝙡𝙫𝙞𝙖:

 This is addressed to his mother during hie exile. In this he tries to comfort his mother and asks her not grieve his exile. He praises her mother's bravery and character and asks her to be happy and take interest in philosophy and books.

▪️𝘿𝙚 𝙏𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙦𝙪𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝘼𝙣𝙞𝙢𝙞 - 𝙊𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙦𝙪𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙙 :

Addressed to his friend Serenus, Seneca talks about various issues regarding anxiety, stress and worry. Seneca gives various examples from history and explains how one should learn to be happy and content despite fortune's wrath. And that one should always remember it's all temporary and things can change anytime.

"𝑾𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒊𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝑭𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒖𝒏𝒆,  𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒃𝒚 𝒂 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒈𝒐𝒍𝒅𝒆𝒏 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒊𝒏, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒃𝒚 𝒂 𝒕𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒃𝒂𝒔𝒆𝒓 𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒂𝒍: 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒅𝒐𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒕 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓? 𝑾𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒕𝒚, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅  𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒃𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒔 - 𝒖𝒏𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒑𝒆𝒓­𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒆𝒇𝒕-𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒊𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒆𝒓" 

"𝑺𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝑰 𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒑 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝑯𝒆𝒓𝒄𝒖𝒍𝒆𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒃𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆, 𝒐𝒓 𝑹𝒆𝒈𝒖𝒍𝒖𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒑𝒊𝒆𝒓𝒄𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒏𝒂𝒊𝒍𝒔, 𝒐𝒓 𝑪𝒂𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒔? 𝑨𝒍𝒍 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎 𝒃𝒚 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒖𝒑 𝒂 𝒃𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒇 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒂𝒍, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝒅𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒎𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚. "

In the end he talks about how it's normal to be a little disturbed and i am literally thankful for these lines, while reading i was going through something... And honestly found a great comfort in these lines:

“𝑭𝒐𝒓 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒆 𝒂𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑮𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒌 𝒑𝒐𝒆𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 '𝑺𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒅,' 𝒐𝒓 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝑷𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 '𝑨 𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒔𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒄𝒌𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒗𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒐𝒐𝒓𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒑𝒐𝒆𝒕𝒓𝒚,' 𝒐𝒓 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝑨𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 '𝑵𝒐 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒂 𝒕𝒐𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔,' 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒂 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒅𝒆𝒆𝒑𝒍𝒚 𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒓𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒖𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒏𝒐𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒃𝒆𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒔.”