Saint Nicholas of Japan on the difference between dreaming of a task and doing it

When we dream of a task, we like it; once we have set about it, it is dreadfully tedious. And that is only natural: in our thoughts the task appears to us whole, with its success, its happy results and other blessings, but once we begin to do it... the process is wearisome, and so it is dull. The dream does not deceive us: when we have finished the task, we shall have the pleasure we dreamed of, but be so good as to get there first!

Saint Nicholas of Japan, founder of the Orthodox Church in Japan

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September digest: archaeological finds, exhibitions, museums, theatre and the Church

In the finale of the Strugatskys' Roadside Picnic, the Golden Ball is told: "Happiness for everybody, free, and let nobody go away unsatisfied!" I do not promise to offend nobody, but the digest really does come free of charge. So, here is the main business of the

Frederic Leighton

Frederic Leighton. “Daedalus and Icarus”, 1869 Daedalus warns his son not to climb too high: the heat of the sun may melt the wax, but Icarus is already gazing into the distance, and the lamentations of a foolish old man interest him not in the least

Saint Nicholas of Japan on the difference between dreaming of a task and doing it

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September digest: archaeological finds, exhibitions, museums, theatre and the Church

Frederic Leighton

Attempts to resolve the problems of many years of uncontrolled mass migration

Characters from Gogol's "Petersburg Tales" on the pedestal of the monument to Nikolai Gogol on Nikitsky Boulevard, photograph of the 1960s