Books · Observations
Tradition is a beauty that we preserve, not a set of shackles that bind us
Ezra Pound
Alexandr Radayev
Books · Observations · Humour
How many books have those who name a favourite on a topic really read
So amusing, when people say "one of my favourite books on the subject", as though implying that they have read a great multitude of books on the subject. But they have not. We all know perfectly well that they have not
Cinema · Books · Society
Gaumont releases first trailer for "The Wizard of the Kremlin", French director Olivier Assayas's film based on the book by the Swiss-Italian writer Giuliano da Empoli about the political strategist Vadim Baranov, who began…
Vladimir Putin is played by Jude Law, Baranov by Paul Dano. The world premiere is scheduled for 21 January 2026. The Russian Ministry of Culture has stated that it "has received no applications for a distribution licence for 'The Wizard of the Kremlin'".
Mores · Society
Convention decree of 1793 required French bakers to bake only the bread of equality
In November 1793 the Convention issued an unalterable decree in France that all Frenchmen must eat "one and the same bread". Under pain of imprisonment, all bakers were obliged to bake only one kind of loaf, known as the bread of equality. The bread of equality was baked
NB! · Books · People
Rainer Maria Rilke
NB! · Faith · Art
The Temptation of Zosimas by Demons as a Reminder That the Whole Course of Our Earthly Life Is a Field of Spiritual Warfare
The East · Books · Society · Humour
Benjamin Netanyahu Was Asked: "What Are You Reading at the Moment?"
- "Jews vs Rome" by Barry Strauss - Why did you choose this book? - Last time we lost, and I think we ought to win next time From the lives of reading people
NB! · Architecture · Faith · Moscow · Observations
Speaking of Sklifosovsky
Speaking of Sklifosovsky. Many who drive past the handsome blue building with the colonnade on the Garden Ring do not even realise that it is no country estate or palace of Praskovya Zhemchugova, but a working Orthodox church
Books · Observations · Science
Do you think Plato would have befriended Nietzsche?
If Nietzsche holds that To create a new heaven and a new earth, one first had to destroy … the former highest values then for Plato true values are eternal and immutable ideas, such as goodness, beauty and justice. They are not the creations of man but patterns to which the
Cinema · Observations · Society · Pop Culture
Joan Rowling on the young “Harry Potter” actors and the stance of those who played villains
It is good that the chief villains of Harry Potter, Ralph Fiennes, Helena Bonham Carter and Tom Felton, in fact support J. K. Rowling, refusing to join the pile-on against her and openly showing their gratitude to this woman. Remember the interesting observation J. K. Rowling once made about
Faith · Art · Society
In the First Three Years After the Revolution, the Bolsheviks Killed More Christians than the Romans Did in Three Centuries of Persecution
Live with that Illustration: “Civil War. Decossackisation”, Dmitry Shmarin, 2000
Art · Monarchies · Heritage · Pop Culture
Napoleon’s diamond brooch, captured by the Prussians at Waterloo in 1815
Diamond Brooch of Napoleon Sells for $4.4 Million at Sotheby's in Geneva. The diamond brooch, which served as an ornament for a hat, was left behind by Napoleon in his carriage as he retreated from the field of Waterloo in 1815. During the battle the Prussian army