Good Conversation

There is a host of world-wide literary clubs, Conversation Cafes, Socrates Cafes, university and college libraries ~ and then there is The Neat Little Bookshop. In a used-book shop, there is a limitless array of topics that inspire spontaneous conversations.

Christopher Phillips, founder of the Scorates Cafes (it is worth a Google), hopes that if people participate in his cafes, they "will become more sociable."

In his book, Socrates Cafe: A Fresh Taste of Philosophy (2001), he states,"I had become increasingly disturbed by what I perceived as an extreme and pervasive self-absorption and intolerance among people..."

According to Phillips, the main goal of good conversation is to "inspire each person to inquire further to cultivate and discover his/her unique point of view, nothing more and certainly nothing less." Never should conversation become a "vehicle for advice-giving or for winning friends and influencing people. There is never any need to try to force any sort of agreement."

In a bookshop, we regard a coffee pot, a few stools and a table as essentials to good conversation!

Photo by Lisa Pielechaty. Search VAVOOM PHOTOGRAPHY on Facebook.

http://philosopher.org/

"Peace is liberty in tranquillity."

~ Cicero, Roman philosopher, statesman, 106 BC - 43 BC.

Photo: Lorna. For larger image, click on photo.

Poetry

Neil Paul has actively continued writing and publishing after retiring from his teaching position at Cayuga Secondary School.

We are pleased to host an afternoon with Neil on
Thursday, August 12, 1:30 p.m. at The Neat Little Bookshop, when he will entertain us with readings from some of his recent work and, with a little encouragement, perhaps he will recite some of his favourite poetry from earlier writings.

Watch for details ~ more to follow! Our Fascinating Personalities Series. Everyone welcome.

Good Conversation

Among the pleasures of a used-book shop are the interesting and engaging conversations that take place in it.

The Roman philosopher, Cicero, may have understood what constitutes good conversation. He said, "Conversations are for the most part about domestic business or public affairs or else the study and teaching of the arts."*
He goes on to say that "Even if the discussion begins to drift to other matters, make an effort to call it back to the subject; but we should do so according to the company: for we do not at all times enjoy the same subjects in the same way."

We like to think that a used-book shop promotes conversation. A bookshop ~ where the coffee pot is always on ~ where friends and family meet ~ is as a place where a limitless range of subjects trigger conversation.
Tomorrow: More on Conversation.

*Stephen Miller, Conversation ~ A History of a Declining Art, Yale University Press, 2006.

REIKI by shiko: Because the horse died

REIKI by shiko: Because the horse died

Our friend and follower, Shiko, relates her view of our universe through photographs and poetry.
Although languages may differ, pictures are universal.
Shiko e-mails us from Toyko, Japan. Thank you for your volunteer movement, beautiful friend.

Photos: Our Friend Shiko

"Not a day goes by that I don't take a walk on the beach.

The beach is truly home, its broad expanse of sand as welcoming as a mother's open arms. What's more, this landscape, which extends as far as the eye can see, always reminds me of possibility. It is here that I can listen to my inner voice, shed inhibitions, move to the rhythm of the waves, and ask the universe unanswerable questions."

Joan Anderson A Walk on The Beach, Broadway Books, 2004.

Thought for Today:

"I like living. I have sometimes been wildly, despairingly, acutely miserable, racked with sorrow, but through it all I still know quite certainly that just to be alive is a grand thing."

~ Agatha Christie (1890 - 1976) English crime writer