The journal

Stories to linger over.

A curated selection from the Moniqs archive, newest first. More stories are being moved over from the original site.

EMIL NOLDE ~ AN ILLUMINATING LIFE

Reflections · Reflection

EMIL NOLDE ~ AN ILLUMINATING LIFE

“Clever people master life; the wise illuminate it and create fresh difficulties” Emil Nolde (1867-1956) Mask Still Life III 1911 Irises and Poppies

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SALVADOR DALI ~ ON SURREALISM

Reflections · Reflection

SALVADOR DALI ~ ON SURREALISM

“Surrealism is destructive, but it destroys only what it considers to be shackles limiting our vision.” ― Salvador Dalí Salvador Dalí, painting The Temptation of St. Anthony, 1946

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THOMAS MANN ~ ON LIFE

Literature · Reflection

THOMAS MANN ~ ON LIFE

“And for its part, what was life? Was it perhaps only an infectious disease of matter—just as the so-called spontaneous generation of matter was perhaps only an illness, a cancerous stimulation of the immaterial?” — Thomas Mann, The Magic Mountain

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EDITH WHARTON ~ SEEING YOURSELF IN YOUR OWN THOUGHTS

Literature · Reflection

EDITH WHARTON ~ SEEING YOURSELF IN YOUR OWN THOUGHTS

“Can you imagine looking into your glass some morning and seeing a disfigurement – some hideous change that has come to you while you slept? Well, I seem to myself like that – I can’t bear to see myself in my own thoughts – I hate ugliness, you know – I’ve always turned from it

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DOROTHEA TANNING ~ ON ART

Reflections · Reflection

DOROTHEA TANNING ~ ON ART

“Art has always been the raft onto which we climb to save our sanity” Dorothea Tanning (1910-2012) Some Roses and their Phantoms, 1952 Dorothea Tanning

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WITH THE RAIN (A REQUIEM) ~ POEM BY WILLIAM (CHILI) GONZALEZ

Poetry · Reflection

WITH THE RAIN (A REQUIEM) ~ POEM BY WILLIAM (CHILI) GONZALEZ

Let me sleep Leave me be Let my eyes close Leave my soul to fade away, forever more Let me rest in peace Leave my blood to freeze Let me travel to the unknown Leave the body; it’s just flesh and bone Let my spirit wander in darkness Leave memories of past in fondness Burn

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ANTON CHEKHOV ~ ON LIFE

Literature · Reflection

ANTON CHEKHOV ~ ON LIFE

“There will come a time when everybody will know why, for what purpose, there is all this suffering, and there will be no more mysteries. But now we must live.” —Anton Chekhov, The Three Sisters

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EDITH WHARTON ~ INNER ISOLATION

Literature · Reflection

EDITH WHARTON ~ INNER ISOLATION

“She felt a stealing sense of fatigue as she walked; the sparkle had died out of her, and the taste of life was stale on her lips. She hardly knew what she had been seeking, or why the failure to find it had so blotted the light from her sky: she was only aware of

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IVAN TURGENEV ~ GAMES OF THE MIND

Literature · Reflection

IVAN TURGENEV ~ GAMES OF THE MIND

“Moreover, probably owing to excessive self-consciousness, perhaps as the result of the generally unfortunate cast of my personality, there existed between my thoughts and feelings, and the expression of those feelings and thoughts, a sort of inexplicable, irrational, and utterly

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MIKHAIL BULGAKOV ~ THE EYES AND THE TRUTH

Literature · Reflection

MIKHAIL BULGAKOV ~ THE EYES AND THE TRUTH

“The tongue can conceal the truth, but the eyes never! You’re asked an unexpected question, you don’t even flinch, it takes just a second to get yourself under control, you know just what you have to say to hide the truth, and you speak very convincingly, and nothing in your face

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ANTON CHEKHOV ~ HUMAN RELATIONS

Literature · Reflection

ANTON CHEKHOV ~ HUMAN RELATIONS

“There should be more sincerity and heart in human relations, more silence and simplicity in our interactions. Be rude when you’re angry, laugh when something is funny, and answer when you’re asked.” Anton Chekhov

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THE TOLSTOY FAMILY ~ A LIFE IN PICTURES

Art · Reflection

THE TOLSTOY FAMILY ~ A LIFE IN PICTURES

“All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” ― Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina Count Lev Tolstoy and his Wife Countess Sophia Tolstoy At Home in Tolstoy’s Study, 1907

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