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The Teasing of Old Friends
It’s a particular sign of friendship that people know they can tease you – and that, even when there is a slight sting to their remarks, you rather like it. They email a photo of a gorilla that does...
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On Feeling That Someone Else is So Wrong
Often we’re in search of agreement. It’s very nice when someone wholeheartedly agrees with something we’ve said, especially when we thought they’d be against us. But there’s also special satisfaction...
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Whispering in Bed in the Dark
You can’t even see each other’s noses, though they are just a few inches apart. The darkness isn’t separating you, it’s bringing you together. Theoretically it shouldn’t really matter – as far as the...
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Old Photos of One’s Parents
She is on a beach in a one piece bathing suit, grinning wildly, looking deeply proud of something, standing next to a boy you don’t recognise – her cousin Kenneth? It’s your mother aged maybe seven or...
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The Book that Understands You
You’re turning the pages and a very strange – and very nice – thing dawns on you. This book gets you. Obviously the author (who might have died centuries back) never knew you at all. But they write as...
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Feeling at Home in the Sea
Maybe you don’t at first like this at all: it’s been awhile since you last confronted waves and felt their strange push and pull on your legs as you wade out to mid-thigh depth. You can still just see...
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Holding Hands with a Small Child
You’re helping walk a friend’s family to kindergarten or to the local park for a picnic and your special charge is a little person – aged three or four perhaps – clutching a knitted rabbit or a...
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A Favourite Old Jumper
It’s not one you can now really wear except at home – and maybe even only when you are on your own or have a good excuse: it’s suddenly very cold; you’re a bit poorly; you’ve just come back from a long...
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On Sunday Mornings
On weekdays you’d be out of the house by now; but today you’re still in bed. You’ve got time to notice how the light is filtering through a gap in the curtains. It’s quieter than usual outside; the...
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Driving on the Motorway at Night
It’s 10:15 pm. Usually, you’d be watching television, pottering in the kitchen in your socks, nibbling a biscuit, thinking about heading to bed. But instead you are behind the wheel, looking at the...
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On Crimes in the Newspapers
You’ve had an argument with the children. Later you’ll have to go to work and bite your tongue around your boss. Now you’re in the bath, reading the newspaper. There’s a big story on the front page. A...
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Up at Dawn
5:45 am on a summer’s morning. You’ve woken early. It’s still outside. The sun hasn’t quite risen yet. Normally, you’d be sleeping right through this. You’re reconnecting with your life. Somewhere a...
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On Grandmothers
Naturally, the details of personal experience vary enormously, but there’s a charming ideal of what a grandmother is that we can imagine or piece together from fragments of benign memories. Perhaps...
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On Stars
It’s strange to see there are so many of them; though in some detached part of our brains we know there are trillions of trillions of them. But we forget to look. We keep meaning to, but it might only...
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On Small Islands
As the plane makes its gradual descent you see much of the island from your window: the cliffs at one end, the long golden curve of a remote beach, olive groves, an isolated village, a patch of...
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Against Obscurity
We might expect that humans would display a powerful reflex taste for simple over obscure explanations. Yet in many areas of intellectual and psychological life, we observe a stranger, more...
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A Muffled Ode to Luxury
There is an age, and a frame of mind, when we are strong enough to treat luxury with every bit of the disdain it deserves, when we know how to pour rightful scorn on its waste, its futility, most of...
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Six Ideas from Western Philosophy
Philosophy is a discipline committed to helping us to live wiser and less sorrowful lives. Here are six ideas from its Western branch that can inspire and console: ONE: ‘What need is there to weep...
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Six Ideas from Eastern Philosophy
Eastern Philosophy has always had a very similar goal to Western philosophy: that of making us wiser, less agitated, more thoughtful and readier to appreciate our lives. However, the way it has gone...
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The Charm of Lonely Places
When we imagine where in the world we’d be happiest, we’re often prompted to imagine places filled with people; a cosy home with family, a party with friends, a busy office or bar, well-lit streets...
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