"We live in a nightmare of falsehoods, and there are few who are sufficiently awake and aware to see things as they are. Our first duty is to clear away illusions and recover a sense of reality."
–– Nicolai Berdyaev, Political Testament
–– Nicolai Berdyaev, Political Testament
September 11, 2025 at 11:07 PM
"We live in a nightmare of falsehoods, and there are few who are sufficiently awake and aware to see things as they are. Our first duty is to clear away illusions and recover a sense of reality."
–– Nicolai Berdyaev, Political Testament
–– Nicolai Berdyaev, Political Testament
you know the "it came to me in a dream" footnote? that's from berdyaev
Okay, adding to the too be read list after reading his Wikipedia page.
September 11, 2025 at 11:14 PM
you know the "it came to me in a dream" footnote? that's from berdyaev
it's funny i've read the book this is from (it's from Berdyaev - russian orthodox leftist mystic)
I have it on good authority that 12 million Americans marched against Trump yesterday¹
June 15, 2025 at 10:05 PM
it's funny i've read the book this is from (it's from Berdyaev - russian orthodox leftist mystic)
"The question of bread for myself is a material question, but the question of bread for my neighbor is a spiritual question."
Nikolai Berdyaev
Nikolai Berdyaev
January 31, 2025 at 1:17 AM
"The question of bread for myself is a material question, but the question of bread for my neighbor is a spiritual question."
Nikolai Berdyaev
Nikolai Berdyaev
someone should write a contemporary book on the Russian Orthodox existential philosopher Nikolai Berdyaev (best known for the "it came to me in a dream" footnote)
April 9, 2026 at 12:43 AM
someone should write a contemporary book on the Russian Orthodox existential philosopher Nikolai Berdyaev (best known for the "it came to me in a dream" footnote)
Nicolas Berdyaev, From The Divine and the Human, English Translation (1949)
December 9, 2024 at 4:41 PM
Nicolas Berdyaev, From The Divine and the Human, English Translation (1949)
An excerpt from the Russian Orthodox Christian personalist Nikolai Berdyaev on the state's bankrupt ethics. (From his book Slavery and Freedom).
February 14, 2026 at 8:43 PM
An excerpt from the Russian Orthodox Christian personalist Nikolai Berdyaev on the state's bankrupt ethics. (From his book Slavery and Freedom).
Berdyaev was so real for this
October 7, 2025 at 7:23 PM
Berdyaev was so real for this
Nicolas Berdyaev did it like this.
April 2, 2026 at 10:57 AM
Nicolas Berdyaev did it like this.
“We live in a nightmare of falsehoods, and there are few who are sufficiently awake and aware to see things as they are. Our first duty is to clear away illusions and recover a sense of reality.”
— Nikolai Berdyaev
— Nikolai Berdyaev
February 6, 2026 at 2:27 PM
“We live in a nightmare of falsehoods, and there are few who are sufficiently awake and aware to see things as they are. Our first duty is to clear away illusions and recover a sense of reality.”
— Nikolai Berdyaev
— Nikolai Berdyaev
“Truth is the awakening of spirit in man, his communion with spirit.”
— Nikolai Berdyaev, The Beginning and the End
— Nikolai Berdyaev, The Beginning and the End
March 29, 2025 at 2:32 AM
“Truth is the awakening of spirit in man, his communion with spirit.”
— Nikolai Berdyaev, The Beginning and the End
— Nikolai Berdyaev, The Beginning and the End
Nikolai Berdyaev, The Divine and the Human
December 9, 2024 at 11:47 AM
Nikolai Berdyaev, The Divine and the Human
There has been a standard citation format for that since Berdyaev 1949!
January 10, 2026 at 3:29 PM
There has been a standard citation format for that since Berdyaev 1949!
the books I read in my youth are now perceived quite differently. I'm rereading Berdyaev for the third time. For the first time, wow, what a busy life! The second time, wow, what deep philosophical thoughts. Now there is a manifestation of ADHD, signs of autism ... but how cool it is!!!!
March 1, 2026 at 6:51 AM
the books I read in my youth are now perceived quite differently. I'm rereading Berdyaev for the third time. For the first time, wow, what a busy life! The second time, wow, what deep philosophical thoughts. Now there is a manifestation of ADHD, signs of autism ... but how cool it is!!!!
In the creative-artistic attitude towards this world we catch a glimpse of another world.
~Nikolai Berdyaev
~Nikolai Berdyaev
August 28, 2024 at 5:06 AM
In the creative-artistic attitude towards this world we catch a glimpse of another world.
~Nikolai Berdyaev
~Nikolai Berdyaev
Bread for me is a material question. Bread of my neighbour is a spiritual one. — Nikolai Berdyaev
November 29, 2025 at 7:44 PM
Bread for me is a material question. Bread of my neighbour is a spiritual one. — Nikolai Berdyaev
The funny thing about Berdyaev is that he was kind of hip in the English speaking set for a bit -- by which I mean the non-Orthodox English speaking set. People nowadays act like nobody read Orthodox writers before 1970 or something...
June 15, 2025 at 10:20 PM
The funny thing about Berdyaev is that he was kind of hip in the English speaking set for a bit -- by which I mean the non-Orthodox English speaking set. People nowadays act like nobody read Orthodox writers before 1970 or something...
“During the tense years between World War I and World War II, intellectuals including Nikolai Berdyaev, Jacques Maritain and T.S. Eliot argued that ‘paganism’ and ‘idolatry’ had emerged in communism and fascism, and that the only path to a better viable society was religious revival”
“What’s really at stake for Wolpe and the many other American intellectuals who seem to believe American society desperately needs religion to hold it together? In my academic research as a historian, I describe people like Wolpe as motivated by the perceived cultural threat of nihilism”
January 9, 2024 at 10:30 PM
“During the tense years between World War I and World War II, intellectuals including Nikolai Berdyaev, Jacques Maritain and T.S. Eliot argued that ‘paganism’ and ‘idolatry’ had emerged in communism and fascism, and that the only path to a better viable society was religious revival”
"The worship of Mammon instead of God is a characteristic of Socialism as well as Capitalism."
- Nikolai Berdyaev
- Nikolai Berdyaev
in other words i continue to think the right and the left converge to a surprising degree on their material picture of the world--namely, that it's zero sum--and merely apply inverse moral valences to that imagined truth
the right: "ai is going to eliminate the working class (and that's good)"
the left: "ai is going to eliminate the working class (and that's bad)"
very tired economic historians:
the left: "ai is going to eliminate the working class (and that's bad)"
very tired economic historians:
December 30, 2024 at 11:02 PM
"The worship of Mammon instead of God is a characteristic of Socialism as well as Capitalism."
- Nikolai Berdyaev
- Nikolai Berdyaev
“We live in a nightmare of falsehoods, and our first duty is to clear away illusions and recover a sense of reality.”
— Nicolas Berdyaev
— Nicolas Berdyaev
February 17, 2026 at 3:29 PM
“We live in a nightmare of falsehoods, and our first duty is to clear away illusions and recover a sense of reality.”
— Nicolas Berdyaev
— Nicolas Berdyaev
Gör det inte svårare än det behöver vara:
Berdyaev, N. (1949) The Divine and the Human, p. 6.
Berdyaev, N. (1949) The Divine and the Human, p. 6.
October 10, 2024 at 3:43 PM
Gör det inte svårare än det behöver vara:
Berdyaev, N. (1949) The Divine and the Human, p. 6.
Berdyaev, N. (1949) The Divine and the Human, p. 6.
“Spirit is never an object; nor a spiritual reality an objective one. In the so-called objective world there's no such nature, thing, or objective reality as spirit. Hence it is easy to deny the reality of spirit.”
— Nikolai Berdyaev, The Spirit and Reality
— Nikolai Berdyaev, The Spirit and Reality
September 14, 2026 at 4:37 PM
“Spirit is never an object; nor a spiritual reality an objective one. In the so-called objective world there's no such nature, thing, or objective reality as spirit. Hence it is easy to deny the reality of spirit.”
— Nikolai Berdyaev, The Spirit and Reality
— Nikolai Berdyaev, The Spirit and Reality
“Consciousness not only orients us in the midst of this world, not only gives out light, but also creates a great quantity of illusions.”
— Nikolai Berdyaev, The Beginning and the End
— Nikolai Berdyaev, The Beginning and the End
June 22, 2026 at 7:53 PM
“Consciousness not only orients us in the midst of this world, not only gives out light, but also creates a great quantity of illusions.”
— Nikolai Berdyaev, The Beginning and the End
— Nikolai Berdyaev, The Beginning and the End