Fait-divers by Wendell Berry

"A society wishing to endure must speak the language of care-taking, faith-keeping, kindness, neighborliness, and peace." (Wendell Berry)

Fait-divers by John Steinbeck

“Knowing a man well never leads to hate and almost always leads to love.” (John Steinbeck)

Belle And Sebastian - the girl doesn't get it, 2018

"The band’s palette might be far broader than it was 20 years ago – the bouncing disco of The Girl Doesn’t Get It contrasting nicely with the stripped-back balladry of There Is an Everlasting Song."

Fait-divers by John Horton Conway

"That’s a curious thing about the nature of mathematical existence. This rule hasn’t physically existed in any sense in the world before a month ago, before I invented it, but it sort of intellectually existed forever. There is this abstract world which in some strange sense has existed throughout eternity. Imagine an uninhabited planet, full of interesting things. You land on it, and it existed for a million years, but no people have ever been there, no sentient beings. There are such places, I’m sure. Go to some remote star and there will be something. But you don’t have to go there. You can sit in this very chair and find something that has existed throughout all of eternity and be the first person to explore it." (John Horton Conway)

Fait-divers on black holes

"as a black hole radiates Hawking radiation, it slowly evaporates until it eventually vanishes. So what happens to all the information encoded on its horizon? Does it disappear, which would violate quantum mechanics? Or is it preserved, as quantum mechanics would predict? One theory is that the Hawking radiation contains all of that information. When the black hole evaporates and disappears, it has already preserved the information of everything that fell into it, radiating it out into the universe."

Fait-divers on storytelling

Stories are our user manuals for life.

Fait-divers by Susan Sontag

"Books are not only the arbitrary sum of our dreams, and our memory. They also give us the model of self-transcendence. Some people think of reading only as a kind of escape: an escape from the “real” everyday world to an imaginary world, the world of books. Books are much more. They are a way of being fully human." (Susan Sontag)

Moby - slipping away crier la vie, 2006

"Produced and remixed by MHC in London, "Slipping Away (Crier la vie)" is a dance version of "Slipping Away" adds French lyrics. On his blog on September 9, 2006, then in the December 16, 2006 edition of the French newspaper Le Parisien, Moby stated that Farmer came to his restaurant Teany in New York and suggested to him that they record a duet version of "Slipping Away", as she had heard the song on his best of and liked it. He explained that she wrote her lyrics in French and they worked together at a distance from each other (New York and Paris). The song was very regularly aired by all French radio stations, including Fun Radio which aired it several times every day. As the song was very successful, new remixes were made and a second CD maxi and vinyl were released on November 15."

Fait-divers by Vala Afshar

"Two things define us: 1) our patience when we have nothing, 2) our attitude when we have everything." (Vala Afshar)

Fait-divers

"I like nonsense; it wakes up the brain cells." (Dr. Seuss)

Fait-divers by Jung

"Your visions will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes." (C. G. Jung)

Fait-divers by Einstein

"I have no doubt that our thinking goes on for the most part without use of signs (words) and beyond that to a considerable degree unconsciously. For how, otherwise, should it happen that we sometimes “wonder” quite spontaneously about some experience? This “wondering” appears to occur when an experience comes into conflict with a world of concepts already sufficiently fixed within us. Whenever such a conflict is experienced sharply and intensely it reacts back upon our world of thought in a decisive way. The development of this world of thought is in a certain sense a continuous flight from “wonder.” A wonder of this kind I experienced as a child of four or five years when my father showed me a compass. That this needle behaved in such a determined way did not at all fit in the kind of occurrences that could find a place in the unconscious world of concepts (efficacy produced by direct “touch”). I can still remember — or at least believe I can remember — that this experience made a deep and lasting impression upon me. Something deeply hidden had to be behind things." (Albert Einstein)

Fait-divers: Brandolini's law (or the bullshit asymmetry principle)

"The amount of energy needed to refute bullshit is an order of magnitude bigger than that needed to produce it." (Alberto Brandolini)

Fait-divers by Einstein

"There is, after all, something eternal that lies beyond the hand of fate and of all human delusions. And such eternals lie closer to an older person than to a younger one oscillating between fear and hope. For us, there remains the privilege of experiencing beauty and truth in their purest forms." (Albert Einstein)

Fleet Foxes - sunblind, 2020

"Throughout the track, frontman Robin Pecknold names off around nineteen artists that have both had an effect on Pecknold’s life and have passed away at a young age. Though the song deals with death, it never comes across as mournful, at least not in a traditional sense. Pecknold vows to carry on the legacy of Elliott Smith, Arthur Russell and a handful of others through his own music, celebrating and honoring by creating music under their influence. Instrumentally, “Sunblind” reflects the same idea, rising to a crescendo under sunny guitars and warm vocals."

Fait-divers by Thomas Merton

"Our culture is one which is geared in many ways to help us evade any need to face this inner, silent self." (Thomas Merton)

The Coral - distance inbetween, 2016

"The band wanted the sound to be minimal, direct and groove-based, with musical touchstones including Cypress Hill, Kool Keith, Portishead and Can. The album was also influenced by what Power referred to as "stuff that's happened," including the death of Alan Wills, the band's mentor and founder of Deltasonic Records, in a cycling accident. The band subsequently dedicated the album in memory of Wills."

Sintra, pôr do sol, ontem, 31 de julho de 2025

Fait-divers by Tolstoy

"For man to be able to live he must either not see the infinite, or have such an explanation of the meaning of life as will connect the finite with the infinite." (Leo Tolstoy)

Belle And Sebastian - play for today, 2015

"Belle & Sebastian’s Girls in Peacetime Want to Dance was released early in the year to little fanfare. Twenty years into their remarkable career, the Scottish septet doesn’t excite critics the way they used to. It’s a shame, because the record is solid start to finish, not the best thing they’ve ever recorded but better than pretty much everything else released in 2015. Guess that’s just shooting par for these guys. The 7-plus minute ‘Play For Today’ grabbed me immediately. Performed as a duet by B&S frontman Stuart Murdoch and Dee Dee Penny of the L.A.-based indie band Dum Dum Girls, the song uses theater as a metaphor for depression."

Fait-divers by Eugene Peterson

“Stories are verbal acts of hospitality.” (Eugene Peterson)

Fait-divers by Vala Afshar

Hard skills that require constant practice: 1 giving a sincere compliment, 2 listening with intent to learn, 3 talking less, but saying more. (Vala Afshar)

Fait-divers by Kafka

"People talk loud and long, in order to say as little as possible." (Franz Kafka)

Fait-divers on entanglement

"the emergence of classically connected spacetimes is intimately related to the quantum entanglement of degrees of freedom in a non-perturbative description of quantum gravity. Disentangling the degrees of freedom associated with two regions of spacetime results in these regions pulling apart and pinching off from each other in a way that can be quantified by standard measures of entanglement."

Slowdive - missing you, 1993

"Despite its members’ youthfulness – averaging 19 years of age when they signed to Creation Records in 1990 – Slowdive arrived late to the scene eventually referred to derisively in the British music press as shoegaze. In many ways, the five-piece outfit was victims of circumstance. Following the excesses of My Bloody Valentine’s monumental Loveless (1991), which nearly bankrupted Creation, perceptions of the still-nascent genre turned a corner and initial champions turned their backs on the mop-topped gloom rockers. As part of Creation’s stable of early ‘90s dream-poppers, Slowdive managed only two LPs and a handful of EPs as a full band before the critical pushback against shoegaze and fickle fans effectively killed any chances at longevity."

Damien Jurado - dear thomas wolfe, 2018

"A taciturn sensitive-lumberjack type with a voice like something heavy he’s carrying on his back, Jurado also winds brambly acoustic guitar lines through abstract poetic language, incanting the names of small towns and vast states, mysterious women and disreputable men."

Fait-divers on compassion and generosity

Compassion and generosity can combat the rising tide of inequality. True wealth is happiness which comes from giving.

Fait-divers by the Dalai Lama on gratitude

"When you practice gratefulness, there is a sense of respect toward others." (Dalai Lama)

Fait-divers on attitude

What we practice and repeat in life becomes more automatic.

Fait-divers on courage

Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.

Fait-divers by Niels Bohr

"The opposite of a correct statement is a false statement. But the opposite of a profound truth may well be another profound truth." Niels Bohr

Fait-divers on the universe

The universe and human beauty standards are both shaped by the interplay of art and science in creating order.

Belle And Sebastian - the ghost of rockschool, 2010

"For 15 years, Belle & Sebastian have been releasing albums chock full of literate, gorgeous pop music. They’ve recorded so many string-and-horn embellished soft rock songs that it’s hard to believe there’s a melody or a trumpet solo out there that they haven’t hit on yet. But in 2010 they did it again. Their latest album, Write About Love, features a handful of tracks as good as anything the band has put out over the past decade. Par for the course. My favorite of the new songs is ‘The Ghost of Rockschool,’ a Stuart Murdoch special that weaves in his trademark religious references and a trumpet performance by band member Mick Cooke that makes me want to weep or cheer. I think I could attribute about 45% of my adoration of Belle & Sebastian to Mick Cooke’s trumpet playing. Invariably my favorite songs of theirs feature his sublime work. Note to all bands, both established and up-and-coming: Get yourself a trumpet player!"

The Big Moon - why, 2020

"Their piano galumphs along, their vocal harmonies are rowdy and imposing yet their quirks are tamed by keen, oddball structures, and a rare balance of enveloping dreaminess and emphatic insistence. At their spikiest, as on Don’t Think or Holy Roller, they can recall the great 2000s indie band the Long Blondes."

Slowdive - country rain, 1993

"They've found a way to be quiet, moving, and aggressive simultaneously, mixing trance-like beauty with the deepest delayed guitar sounds around, a sound at once relaxing, soothing, and exciting, and most of all harshly beautiful."

Fait-divers on happiness

Happiness is a sense of clarity where you forget yourself, lose track of time, and feel like you’re part of something larger.

Lily And Madeleine - hourglass, 2015

“As I attempt to further discover who I am as an individual, the way society wants me to define myself is becoming clearer. It seems to me that young people are the same everywhere, regardless of race, gender or socioeconomic class. All young adults are in the same boat, trying to figure out what makes us individuals and trying to find our value in society.”

Tindersticks - how he entered, 2015

"They’re moments and entities once bustling with life, but which now exist as faded memories or shells of their former selves. And for so long as we pine to make them real again, there will be exquisite Tindersticks songs to help us fill the void."

Fait-divers by Alan Watts

"The desire for security and the feeling of insecurity are the same thing. To hold your breath is to lose your breath." (Alan Watts)

Charlie Haden Family And Friends - spiritual live, 2008

"Joining Charlie and Josh on stage are two other members of the Haden family. Petra Haden on violin and Tanya Haden on ‘cello. Tanya, by the way, is married to Jack Black. The only musical family member missing from this ensemble that performed on the Letterman show was bassist/keyboardist Rachel Haden. Rachel, Tanya, and Petra are triplet daughters of Charlie Haden; Josh is their older brother."

Fait-divers by Einstein

"Science is the attempt to make the chaotic diversity of our sense-experience correspond to a logically uniform system of thought." (Einstein)

Fait-divers on black holes

"Beyond the event horizon, black holes curve into one of the darkest mysteries in physics. Scientists can’t explain what happens when objects cross the event horizon and spiral toward the singularity. General relativity and quantum mechanics collide and Einstein’s equations explode into infinities. Black holes might even house gateways to other universes called wormholes and violent fountains of energy and matter called white holes, though it seems very unlikely that nature would allow these structures to exist. Sometimes reality is stranger than fiction."

Fait-divers on dark matter

Dark matter helps make accurate predictions, but it could be epistemologically inaccessible. We know it works but we don't know how.

Fait-divers on the universe

To live in a universe that is largely inaccessible is to live in a realm of endless possibilities, for better or worse.

Fait-divers by Eleanor Brownn

"Letting go may sound so simple, but rarely is it a one-time thing. Just keep letting go, until one day it’s gone for good." (Eleanor Brownn)

Belle And Sebastian - write about love, 2010

"The song features some singing from Oscar-nominated actress Carey Mulligan (An Education)."

Nada Surf - love goes on cover, 2010

"There's something about a band recording an album of covers that sends up a red flag in the minds of many listeners, as if the musicians are acknowledging they've run out of ideas and must sift through other folks' material in order to pad out their repertoire. This might seem particularly troubling to fans of Nada Surf, since their continued existence after the flash-in-the-pan success of "Popular" in 1996 has had so much to do with their growing strength as idiosyncratic pop songwriters, but for whatever reason, the group has chosen to interpret the work of 12 other acts on their sixth studio album, If I Had a Hi-Fi, and they've done it in a way that avoids sounding like a holding action."

Fait-divers by Kathryn Schulz

"However disorienting, difficult, or humbling our mistakes might be, it is ultimately wrongness, not rightness, that can teach us who we are.” (Kathryn Schulz)

Fait-divers on silence

Every place of silence is invaded by noise. Everywhere we see the ravages of this on our thinking.

Fait-divers on fear

Fear is a darkroom where negatives develop.

Fait-divers by Niels Bohr on reality

“Everything we call real is made of things that cannot be regarded as real.” (Niels Bohr)

Fait-diverson metaphors

Metaphors close gaps in understanding by linking new ideas to what is already known.

Fait-divers on the neutrinos

Neutrinos are everywhere. Every second, 100 trillion of them pass through your body unnoticed, hardly ever interacting.

Fait-divers

Stress creates activity, but it destroys creativity. It causes smart people to do stupid things.

Fait-divers by Matthieu Ricard on happiness

"To Ricard, the answer comes down to altruism. The reason is that, thinking about yourself and how to make things better for yourself all the time is exhausting and stressful, and it ultimately leads to unhappiness. "It's not the moral ground," Ricard says. "It's simply that me, me, me all day long is very stuffy. And it's quite miserable, because you instrumentalize the whole world as a threat, or as a potential sort of interest [to yourself]." If you want to be happy, Ricard says you should strive to be "benevolent," which will not only make you feel better but also make others like you more."

Fleet Foxes - lorelai, 2011

"So the deeper “Lorelai” gets into its story and starts adding instruments (some backwards), and harmonies, the further it gets away from its influences and comes out the other side being very much its own thing."

The Flaming Lips - evil will prevail, 1995

"this song was a key factor in Ronald Jones, who played guitar with the band at the time, leaving the band, as he perceived the message as a negative one, conflicting with his happy-clappy spiritual views. I think, although he was a wonderful guitarist and probably a lovely guy, that he missed the point. God only knows where the magic bullet and glowing mothership fit into all though..."

Nada Surf - whose authority, 2008

"An album as a whole that I love is Lucky by Nada Surf. "See These Bones," that to me is a person, and an album, and a song. My girlfriend, Courtney, is completely embodied in that album. Every time I listen to it, it's like she's there, and that's really helped me a lot. It's really strange to have an album be a person. It's the first time I've kind of thought about it in that way, but it's true, and that brings a comfort in itself. The music is super comforting because it's got amazing harmonies. The thing I love about Nada Surf is you don't give a shit what year it is, they still sound like 1995. They've done it on their new album (You Know Who You Are) as well. I love that band."

Slowdive - don't know why, 2017

"It’s strange to call Slowdive a comeback album, because it seems so sure of itself. Instead, it feels like a completely logical next step in their discography. The record fits snugly inside the band’s canon, so much so that it makes the 22 years since Pygmalion all the more difficult to believe. The band have delivered a fresh dream-pop sound that is still uniquely Slowdive. Perhaps they’re fortunate that their return does not follow their magnum opus, but Slowdive delivers nearly everything their fans desire in a return: familiarity, innovation, and vast atmospheres to get lost in."

Belle And Sebastian - i want the world to stop, 2010

"Mainly, though, what impresses about Write About Love is its consistency, both within the album itself and within Belle & Sebastian’s work at large. Song for song, it’s as strong as any of their records - if anything, these 11 songs are the tightest they have ever been - and Stuart Murdoch remains faithful to the aesthetic he essayed at the outset of his career, finding sustenance in the fine details, his obsessions carrying the weight of passion."

Slowdive - no longer making time, 2017

"There is the occasional moment when the mix seems a little off, most notably the tinny drums on "No Longer Making Time," but mostly the album delivers exactly what a Slowdive fan would want. Lots of songs to dream to (the ethereal, Cocteau Twins-sounding "Don't Know Why," the calming "Sugar for the Pill"), get lost in (the noisy "Go Get It"), and swoon along with (the positively dreamy pop song "Everyone Knows")."

Fait-divers by Kierkegaard on boredom

"Adam was bored because he was alone; therefore Eve was created. Since that moment, boredom entered the world and grew in quantity in exact proportion to the growth of population. Adam was bored alone; then Adam and Eve were bored together; then Adam and Eve and Cain and Abel were bored en famille. After that, the population of the world increased and the nations were bored en masse." (Kierkegaard)

Fait-divers on attitude

Give more than is expected, love more than seems wise, serve more than seems necessary, and help more than is asked.

Fait-divers on education and forgiveness

The two most powerful forces in the future are education and forgiveness.

Fait-divers by Thomas Merton

"What a thing it is to sit absolutely alone, in the forests, at night..." (Thomas Merton)

Fait-divers by Camus

"Nous finissons toujours par avoir le visage de nos vérités." (Albert Camus)

Neil Young - old man live at bst hyde park london, 2025

"There is a purity of intent to Neil Young that makes him seem, in this busy live summer of 2025, even more of an anachronism than ever. At Glastonbury, his ornery denial of current practice felt to some of us heroic - no pyro, no FX, no cabaret style troupe of special guests: the music and the pursuit of the sound was the spectacle. If cruise ship kitsch felt like the prerequisite for legend success at Glastonbury, Young seemed happier than ever to fail on his own terms."

Det Vackra Livet - kristallen, 2011

"Det Vackra Livet is the new band featuring brothers Philip and Henrik Ekström of The Mary Onettes. A perfectly eccentric and personal mix of The Cure, Ingmar Bergman, Claes Andersson's poetry and Arcade Fire!"

Belle And Sebastian - i love my car, 2001

"I Love My Car is a hilariously sweet ditty with insanely twee lyrics and that darn Uptown Shufflers om-pom-pom band that supported them on the last tour. You’ll either find it horrifying or endearing, as with the sleeve photos showing the band members holding various cute dogs."

Fait-divers

The only thing more powerful than knowing how to program the mind, is knowing how to deprogram it.

Fait-divers by Niels Bohr

"Prediction is difficult, especially about the future." (Niels Bohr)

Fait-divers by Leonard Nimoy

"The miracle is this: the more we share, the more we have." (Leonard Nimoy)

Slowdive - slomo, 2017

"The way they blurred the clear vocal and instrumental is intriguing. Sometimes I feel like dream pop is a way to echo your voice in the brain and repetitively make you believe whatever your brain says is your heart says. I think this song is quite a straightforward one, expressing the longing for love and seeking tenderness. The way Slomo addresses the universal emotions is nothing dramatically different but quite convincing."

Concorde - floating there, 2013

"The EP features synth-heavy, electro-pop arrangements with a melancholic yet danceable vibe, blending vintage synths and tropical guitar sounds."

Fait-divers by C. S. Lewis on humility

"True humility is not thinking less of yourself; it is thinking of yourself less." (C. S. Lewis)

Fait-divers on art

Writing is the art of finding the extraordinary and hiding it in a better place.

Fait-divers on strength

True strength is not a solitary fortress, standing rigid against the world, but a bridge (fragile yet enduring) built across the vast chasms of human suffering. It arises not from isolation, but from the willing choice to step into the pain of others, to let their struggles echo within us.

Fait-divers on pain and love

What we perceive to be a three-dimensional universe might just be the image of a two-dimensional one. The only reality: love and pain.

Letting Up Despite Great Faults - shift, 2014

"Shift" is a track from the 2014 album Neon by Letting Up Despite Great Faults, an American indie pop/dream pop band founded by Mike Lee in 2006. The song, with a runtime of 2:56, is the opening track of the 13-song album, released on August 12, 2014, and characterized by its dreamy, shoegaze-infused indie rock sound. Critics have noted Neon for its shimmering, danceable melodies and New Order-inspired basslines, with "Shift" setting the tone for the album's ethereal vibe."

The Smiths - cemetry gates, 1986

"Cemetry Gates" originated when Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr was on a train; he recalled, "I was ... thinking, 'If you're so great, first thing in the morning sit down and write a great song.' I started with 'Cemetry Gates'; B minor to G change in open G." Marr was initially sceptical of using the song, believing that the guitar part was not interesting enough to be developed into a song. However, Smiths singer Morrissey liked Marr's performance of the song's music and convinced him it was worthy of release. Marr recalled "I did this in my kitchen with Morrissey. When I played it I wasn't sure about it – but that’s one example of how a partnership works. Because Morrissey loved it, and it came so effortlessly and easy. I was just about to bin it." Producer Stephen Street stated that "the vibe was just wonderful" while recording the song. Street later said of the song: "It's all the best elements of The Smiths. And what a wonderful vocal and lyric. It's a nice bit of blessed relief. It's delicate, but it's still got power".

Belle And Sebastian - the loneliness of a middle distance runner, 2001

"The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner" is a short story by Alan Sillitoe, published in 1959 as part of a short story collection of the same title. The work focuses on Smith, a poor Nottingham teenager from a dismal home in a working class area, who has bleak prospects in life and few interests beyond petty crime. The boy experiences social alienation and turns to long-distance running as a method of both emotional and physical escape from his situation."

Fait-divers on happiness

The most worth-while thing is to try to put happiness into the lives of others.

Roger Waters - we shall overcome cover live, 2016

"In 1959, the song began to be associated with the civil rights movement as a protest song, when Guy Carawan stepped in with his and Seeger's version as song leader at Highlander, which was then focused on nonviolent civil rights activism. It quickly became the movement's unofficial anthem. Seeger and other famous folksingers in the early 1960s, such as Joan Baez, sang the song at rallies, folk festivals, and concerts in the North and helped make it widely known. Since its rise to prominence, the song, and songs based on it, have been used in a variety of protests worldwide."

Fait-divers by Confucius

"Music produces a kind of pleasure which human nature cannot do without." (Confucius)

Fait-divers: hotel room in the early 20th century

Bruce Springsteen - i'm goin down, 1984

"A rock song, "I'm Goin' Down" is described by Uncut contributor John Lewis as having a country music influence, and "sound[ing] in places like Johnny Cash". For other critics, the song contains rockabilly elements."

Fait-divers by John Steinbeck

"I hate cameras. They are so much more sure than I am about everything." (John Steinbeck)

Fait-divers by Niels Bohr

"Every sentence I utter must be understood not as an affirmation, but as a question." (Niels Bohr)

Fait-divers on gratitude

"Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it." (William Arthur Ward)

Fait-divers on attitude and attention

Body language. Tone of voice. Monitor obsessively. Manage obsessively.

It's Immaterial - in the neighbourhood, 1990

"a sense of place is strong in every song. Each song is a story and the Liverpool-based Mancunians have set them firmly in the North of England."

Isobel Campbell And Mark Lanegan - something to believe, 2008

"Sunday at Devil Dirt is the second collaborative studio album by Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan, released 13 May 2008, through V2 Records. The album follows 2006's Ballad of the Broken Seas. Unlike the previous album, Lanegan flew over to Glasgow to record his vocal parts."

Fait-divers by Einstein on solitude

"I have always loved solitude, a trait that tends to increase with age." (Einstein)

Fait-divers on mind

The mind is like a parachute. It doesnt work unless it's open!

Fait-divers by Vala Afshar on humility, kindness, thoughtfulness and approachability

"I am impressed when I meet smart people. But what I admire most is humility, kindness, thoughtfulness and approachability. Be that person." (Vala Afshar)

Fait-divers by the Dalai Lama on perspective

"Look at situations from all angles, and you will become more open." (Dalai Lama)

The Smiths - bigmouth strikes again, 1986

"I would call it a parody if that sounded less like self-celebration, which it definitely wasn't. It was just a really funny song"

The Mountain Goats - the diaz brothers, 2012

"How many times have you heard “The Diaz Brothers?” If you have been a fan of the Mountain Goats to any degree for more than about ten years as of this writing, that number is probably very high. It’s just one of those songs that you can come back to again and again."

Fait-divers on robots

We're making it too easy for the robots to take over.

The Housemartins - five get over excited live, 1997

"The live version of "Five Get Over Excited" on Raise the Flag by The Housemartins was recorded at the Austin City Limits festival in Texas in 1987."