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Samuel Von Brukenthal (1721-1803). A Collector, An Epoch, A Destiny

click here for Brukenthal Museum An emblem of Sibiu, the Brukenthal Museum is one of the most important abodes of culture that has garnered national and European repute. Since its official opening on February 25, 1803, it laid an indelible mark on the cultural life of the

Editor's Note

A number of objects of the same kind or category which, put together and arranged systematically, have an artistic, scientific, documentary value – this is the definition of the word collection, of Latin origin. Accordingly, the collector would be the person that initiates,

Epitaph On A Săpânţa Grave

(see pictures from The Merry Graveyard in Sapanta) SINCE INTO THIS WORLD I CAME STAN ION PATRAS WAS MY NAME NOW LISTEN TO ME GUYSI'M NOT TELLING YOU LIES FOR AS LONG AS I LIVEDI WISHED NO-ONE ILL NEVER DIDBUT TO ANYONE I COULDI ALWAYS DID A LOT OF GOOD ALAS MY POOR

The L@st Witch

Ever since I was little, the future was something dark and puzzling to me. I am surprised that I have lived so long, when I was around five (it was then, no question, that I got sick) I could by no means picture myself at fifteen and here I am, dear me, well past those days

Fric

excerptTHE CREATION WORK (1715) When he spoke to Aaron Juda Hartman, the rabbi from Spain, the one who had diplomas from Paris and Tripoli, driven to Peloponnesus to look after his poor relatives but also to take care, unimpeded by anyone, in a dusty room heated by the

The Faces Of Decadence

A civilization starts decaying when Life becomes its only obsession. Flourishing ages aim to values per se: life is but a means of attaining them; the individual being is not aware that he lives, he just lives – a happy slave of the shallowness that he breeds, nurses and

Variations On The Theme Of Death

We insist on staying alive precisely because life has no foundation, because it lacks even the poorest argument. On the other hand, death is too exact; all arguments are for it. Although our instincts perceive it as a mystery, to our reason it reveals itself in its whole

It's A Hard Life Bein' Dead

Mouth all bunged up by the clay,With them worms I'm takin' issue –Can't git out of this here grave,Thump you good, forgive you, kiss you…(Gypsy-band song) Let whoever's willing say Of all earthly things death's best. I'll deny that any

Squander Your Time

If ever I ventured to write a treatise on the savoir vivre, I would not neglect to address, in an entire chapter, the art of whiling away. It seems to me that this type of happiness – which is, equally, an admirable instrument of knowledge – has long been forgotten.

Love In The Waste Lot

Safta was a victim of her past of love affairs and amorous generosity, but also of the human decay from the madhouse times and from all times. The former chanteuse had decided, the night when she ordered the enamoured shopkeeper to break the fiddles of the fiddlers, to give

The Psychology Of The Romanian People

CHAPTER 12 – THE PRESENT SPIRITUAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE ROMANIAN PEOPLE Even when the villager's household doesn't come down to the worst poverty image, the house and the things around have an expression of ephemeral, of provisional. It is made of wood, set

For As Little As One Life

Grasp the tray of each dayWith both handsAnd join the line passingBefore this counter.  There's more than enough sunFor everybody,More than enough sky,More than enough moon.  From the earth arise the aromasOf luck, happiness, and glory,Tickling your nostrilsEnticingly.