Shorto, Russell -- Descartes’ Bones, ch. 2 “Banquet of Bones” (2008)

Dave — Mon, 30 Mar 2026 16:00:55 +0000

Death is the event in life. It is our chief organizing principle. It’s why we rush and why we dawdle, why we butter up our bosses and fawn over our children, why we like both fast cars and fading flowers, why we write poetry, why sex thrills us. It’s why we wonder why we are here.

Russell Shorto (b. 1959) American author, historian, journalist
Descartes’ Bones, ch. 2 “Banquet of Bones” (2008)

Shorto, Russell -- Descartes’ Bones, Preface (2008)

Dave — Mon, 15 Jun 2026 15:59:57 +0000

If the West is heading toward some kind of crisis, it’s worth asking ourselves a few basic questions. Modern society as we normally define it — a secular culture built around tolerance, reason, and democratic values — occupies a rather small portion of the world, and there are signs that it is shrinking. Is modernity the inexorable force of progress that we tend to assume? Is it a mere moment of human history that is fast fading? If it is something to value, how can we rediscover it, separate the good and the bad in it, make it relevant and vital?

Russell Shorto (b. 1959) American author, historian, journalist
Descartes’ Bones, Preface (2008)

WIST Quotations

Shorto, Russell -- Descartes’ Bones, ch. 2 “Banquet of Bones” (2008)

Shorto, Russell -- Descartes’ Bones, Preface (2008)