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Often appears with: justice as a virtue · the passions and the emotions · education and the training of the young · marriage and betrothal · custom and the manners of a people · honor, shame, and reputation · pleasure, pain, and the good life · duty, conscience, and obligation · counsel and advisers to rulers · religious persecution and toleration · rank, class, and social order · fate, destiny, and necessity
Usually: detachment (199) · argument (152) · exhortation (113) · narrative (111) · reflection (73) · curiosity (61) · praise (57) · wonder (45) · censure (44) · letter or document (42)
“We sometimes disputed, and very fond we were of argument, and very desirous of confuting one another, which disputatious turn, by the way, is apt to become a very bad habit, making people often extremely disagreeable in company by the contradiction that is necessary to bring it into practice.” Benjamin Franklin, The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin · observation
“And it shows how much more profitable it is prudently to remove, than to resent, return, and continue inimical proceedings.” Benjamin Franklin, The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin · precept
“Anguish and grief, like darkness and rain, may be described, but joy and gladness, like the rainbow of promise, defy alike the pen and pencil.” Frederick Douglass, My Bondage and My Freedom · vivid
“Me! me!” he cried—“turn all your swords alone / On me—the fact confess’d, the fault my own. / He neither could nor durst, the guiltless youth: / Ye moon and stars, bear witness to the truth!” Virgil, The Aeneid · precept
“Oliver feels death's anguish on him now; In his head his two eyes swimming round; Nothing he sees; he hears not any sound; Dismounting then, he kneels upon the ground, Proclaims his sins both firmly and aloud, Clasps his two hands, heavenwards holds them out, Prays God himself in Paradise to allow; Blessings on Charles, and on Douce France he vows, And his comrade, Rollanz, to whom he's bound.” Anonymous (Old French epic), The Song of Roland · vivid
“Honest and earnest criticism from those whose interests are most nearly touched,—criticism of writers by readers,—this is the soul of democracy and the safeguard of modern society.” W. E. B. Du Bois (William Edward Burghardt Du Bois), The Souls of Black Folk · insight
“I am desirous that my wife Camilla should pass this crisis, and be refined and tested by the fire of finding herself wooed” Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Don Quixote · insight
“thus availing himself of the device the devil has recourse to when he would deceive one who is on the watch; for he being the angel of darkness transforms himself into an angel of light, and, under cover of a fair seeming, discloses himself at length, and effects his purpose if at the beginning his wiles are not discovered.” Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Don Quixote · observation
“Thou art mistaken, Sancho,” said Don Quixote, “according to the maxim quando caput dolet, etc.” Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Don Quixote · precept
“Fugite, partes adversæ!* Leave me in peace, unwelcome overtures; avaunt, with your desires, ladies, for she who is queen of mine, the peerless Dulcinea del Toboso, suffers none but hers to lead me captive and subdue me;” Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Don Quixote · precept
“Had he known that she gazed on him thus, whom he bare within his heart, then had he had pastime enough, I trow, for well I wot that no greater joy in all this world could chance to him.” Unknown (Middle High German epic tradition), The Nibelungenlied · vivid
“Biography is the literature of realized personality, of life as it has been lived, of actual achievements or shortcomings, of success or failure; it is not imaginary and embellished, not what might be or might have been, not reduced to prescribed or artificial forms, but it is the unvarnished story of that which was delightful, disappointing, possible, or impossible, in a life spent in this world.” James Boswell, Boswell's Life of Johnson · insight
Achilles tells Odysseus he would rather be a low servant on earth than king among the dead, then asks about his father Peleus and his son Neoptolemus, whose deeds Odysseus describes in detail.
said, ‘Agamemnon, why do you ask me? I do not know whether your son is alive or dead, and it is not right to talk when one does not know.’ “As we two sat weeping and talking thus sadly with one another the ghost of Achilles came up to us with Patroclus, Antilochus, and Ajax who was the finest and goodliest man of all the Danaans after the son of Peleus. The fleet descendant of Aeacus knew me and spoke piteously, say…
Du Bois argues that suppressing honest criticism of Washington is dangerous for democracy, and then explains how African Americans’ group leadership evolved through revolt, adjustment, and self-realization under changing conditions.
land has been but too willing to deliver the solution of a wearisome problem into his hands, and say, “If that is all you and your race ask, take it.” Among his own people, however, Mr. Washington has encountered the strongest and most lasting opposition, amounting at times to bitterness, and even today continuing strong and insistent even though largely silenced in outward expression by the public opinion of the na…
After washing feet, Jesus commands his disciples to love, predicts the betrayal by Judas during the supper, tells Peter he will deny him three times, and begins farewell teaching.
but to wash his feet, but is clean every whit. And ye are clean: but not all. For he knew his betrayer. Therefore said he: ye are not all clean. After he had washed their feet, and received his clothes, and was set down again, he said unto them: wot ye what I have done to you? ye call me master and lord, and ye say well, for so am I. If I then your lord and master have washed your feet, ye also ought to wash one ano…
Jesus continues his farewell discourse using themes of vine and branches, abiding in him, fruitfulness, mutual love, and warns of persecution while promising the Holy Spirit’s guidance and truth.
which is the holy ghost (whom my father will send in my name) shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever I have told you. Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you. Not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your hearts be grieved, neither fear ye. Ye have heard how I said unto you: I go and come again unto you. If ye loved me, ye would verily rejoice, because I sai…
Paul, writing to Philemon, urges him to receive Onesimus as a beloved brother, explains Paul’s personal interest and bondage, and ends with a list of greetings sent from Rome.
Grace be with you and peace, from God our father, and from the lord Iesus Christ. I thank my God always making mention always of thee in my prayers, when I hear of thy love and faith, which thou hast toward the lord Iesu, and toward all saints: so that the fellowship that thou hast in the faith is fruitful thorow knowledge of all good things, which are in you by Iesus Christ. And we have great joy and consolation ov…
Douglass notes that his year with Freeland passes without blows, credits Freeland as the best master until he became self-master, and describes deep mutual love and shared resolve among enslaved people.
I have the happiness to know, that several of those who came to Sabbath school learned how to read; and that one, at least, is now free through my agency. The year passed off smoothly. It seemed only about half as long as the year which preceded it. I went through it without receiving a single blow. I will give Mr. Freeland the credit of being the best master I ever had, *till I became my own master.* For the ease w…
In a running race, Nisus and others sprint for prizes, but Nisus slips in gore; Euryalus helps win for his friend, and the judge Aeneas adjudicates disputes by adjusted gift-giving.
lovely Panopes: Both jolly huntsmen, both in forest bred, And owning old Acestes for their head; With sev’ral others of ignobler name, Whom time has not deliver’d o’er to fame. To these the hero thus his thoughts explain’d, In words which gen’ral approbation gain’d: “One common largess is for all design’d, The vanquish’d and the victor shall be join’d, Two darts of polish’d steel and Gnosian …
After passing Cerberus, Aeneas hears infant cries and hears the punishment-judgement of Minos, then sees the Mournful Fields of lovers and various famous souls—including Dido and others—while Dido rejects him and hides in the forest of shades.
poverty desire to bear, To view the light of heav’n, and breathe the vital air: But fate forbids; the Stygian floods oppose, And with circling streams the captive souls inclose. Not far from thence, the Mournful Fields appear So call’d from lovers that inhabit there. The souls whom that unhappy flame invades, In secret solitude and myrtle shades Make endless moans, and, pining with desire, …
The raiders meet Volscens’s horsemen, scatter toward woods, but Euryalus is separated in darkness; Nisus searches, then kills Volscens’s commander Tagus accidently and Euryalus dies, leading Nisus to rally and kill Volscens in revenge.
he finds among the rest, And laces on, and wears the waving crest. Proud of their conquest, prouder of their prey, They leave the camp, and take the ready way. But far they had not pass’d, before they spied Three hundred horse, with Volscens for their guide. The queen a legion to King Turnus sent; But the swift horse the slower foot prevent, And now, advancing, sought the leader’s tent. …
Euryalus’s death after Nisus’s attempt at rescue is emphasized when Nisus throws a spear at Volscens’s men, calls upon divine night protection, and then publicly throws himself into battle before quieting in death beside his lover.
he next attempt? what arms employ, What fruitless force, to free the captive boy? Or desperate should he rush and lose his life, With odds oppress’d, in such unequal strife? Resolv’d at length, his pointed spear he shook; And, casting on the moon a mournful look: “Guardian of groves, and goddess of the night, Fair queen,” he said, “direct my dart aright. If e’er my pious father, for my sake, …
While walking in London, Equiano finds an old seafaring Christian and later attends a dissenting minister’s love-feast, where believers share experiences, hymns, prayer, and bread-like fellowship.
holy name was blasphemed in it; then I saw the word of God verified, viz. 'Before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.' I had a great desire to read the bible the whole day at home; but not having a convenient place for retirement, I left the house in the day, rather than stay amongst the wicked ones; and that day as I was walking, it pleased God to direct me to a house where there…
Defoe argues that courage during the plague differed by circumstance, notes that both dissenting and church ministers sometimes stayed or fled, and urges charity instead of boasting and mutual reviling.
safety of their lives; but ’tis true also that a great many of them stayed, and many of them fell in the calamity and in the discharge of their duty. It is true some of the Dissenting turned-out ministers stayed, and their courage is to be commended and highly valued—but these were not abundance; it cannot be said that they all stayed, and that none retired into the country, any more than it can be…
Du Bois quotes Mary Still’s account of women helping found the Black church after exclusion, and then links that spiritual ancestry to wartime figures Harriet Tubman and Sojourner Truth.
of today, with its five million members and ninety millions of dollars in property. One of the early mothers of the church, Mary Still, writes thus quaintly, in the forties: "When we were as castouts and spurned from the large churches, driven from our knees, pointed at by the proud, neglected by the careless, without a place of worship, Allen, faithful to the heavenly calling, came forward and laid t…
Douglass describes Capt. Anthony’s family, enslaved household ranks, dialect shaped by African origins, and his own friendship with Mas’ Daniel among the children of Col. Lloyd.
slaves. I had a friend in the parlor, as well, and one to whom I shall be glad to do justice, before I have finished this part of my story. I was not long at old master’s, before I learned that his surname was Anthony, and that he was generally called “Captain Anthony”—a title which he probably acquired by sailing a craft in the Chesapeake Bay. Col. Lloyd’s slaves never called Capt. Anthony “old master,” but always …
In New York soon after escaping, Douglass describes reaching freedom as a joyful shock, mentally severing his slave chain, then narrates loneliness, danger, and his flight into anti-slavery networks.
TRANSITION FROM SLAVERY TO FREEDOM—A WANDERER IN NEW YORK—FEELINGS ON REACHING THAT CITY—AN OLD ACQUAINTANCE MET—UNFAVORABLE IMPRESSIONS—LONELINESS AND INSECURITY—APOLOGY FOR SLAVES WHO RETURN TO THEIR MASTERS—COMPELLED TO TELL MY CONDITION—SUCCORED BY A SAILOR—DAVID RUGGLES—THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD—MARRIAGE—BAGGAGE TAKEN FROM ME—KINDNESS OF NATHAN JOHNSON—MY CHANGE OF NAME—DARK NOTIONS OF NORTHERN CIVILIZATION—THE C…
It recounts debates on Theseus’s participation in major expeditions, discusses his recovery of slain bodies with Adrastus, then narrates the friendship between Theseus and Pirithous, including Pirithous’s raid at Marathon and the later Lapith feast against Centaurs.
allotted them a place, to oblige Adrastus. The story of Euripides in his Suppliants is disproved by Aeschylus in his Eleusinians, where Theseus himself relates the facts as here told. The celebrated friendship between Theseus and Pirithous is said to have been thus begun: the fame of the strength and valor of Theseus being spread through Greece, Pirithous was desirous to make a trial and proof. of it himself, and t…
Plutarch describes Spartan child-training, including harsh consequences for stealing and answering questions, adult supervision of boys’ conduct, and the social role of approved mentorship and affection.
child, bear leaner and smaller but better-shaped and prettier children; the material they come of having been more pliable and easily molded. The reason, however, I leave others to determine. To return from whence we have digressed. So seriously did the Lacedaemonian children go about their stealing, that a youth, having stolen a young fox and hid it under his coat, suffered it to tear out his very bowels with its …
Plutarch continues the comparison: Antipater praises Aristotle’s persuasiveness, and Plutarch claims Marcius lacked it, making his virtues unacceptable; Alcibiades’ agreeable manner brought favor, while Coriolanus could not become beloved despite admiration.
the odium he incurred with the populace in the discussions about their debts was, that he trampled upon the poor, not for money's sake, but out of pride and insolence. Antipater, in a letter written upon the death of Aristotle the philosopher, observes, "Amongst his other gifts he had that of persuasiveness;" and the absence of this in the character of Marcius made all his great actions and noble qualities unaccepta…
Plutarch provides Pelopidas’s background in Thebes, stressing his charity, austere lifestyle, and friendship with Epaminondas, and recounts their bond and shared bravery at Mantinea.
They died, but not as lavish of their blood, Or thinking death itself was simply good; Their wishes neither were to live nor die, But to do both alike commendably. An endeavor to avoid death is not blamable, if we do not basely desire to live; nor a willingness to die good and virtuous, if it proceeds from a contempt of life. And therefore Homer always takes care to bring his bravest and most daring heroes well arm…
Pelopidas and Epaminondas are portrayed as ideal colleagues, their unity traced to their actions at Mantinea where Epaminondas repeatedly defends Pelopidas until Spartan king Agesipolis rescues them.
when there was the greatest need of men and commanders such as they. And this agreement in their characters and their deaths, is the reason why I compare their lives. Pelopidas, the son of Hippoclus, was descended, as likewise Epaminondas was, from an honorable family in Thebes; and, being brought up to opulence, and having a fair estate left him whilst he was young, he made it his business to relieve the good and d…
Plutarch explains why Thebans called their three-hundred Sacred Band “sacred,” describing love-based cohesion, examples of lovers in battle, and how Gorgidas arranged them while Pelopidas later kept them intact.
So tribe might tribe, and kinsmen kinsmen aid, but that he should have joined lovers and their beloved. For men of the same tribe or family little value one another when dangers press; but a band cemented by friendship grounded upon love, is never to be broken, and invincible; since the lovers, ashamed to be base in sight of their beloved, and the beloved before their lovers, willingly rush into danger for the reli…
The narrative shifts to Sulla: Plutarch describes his patrician lineage, poverty despite later power, harsh repute and vulgar entertainment, his infatuations, and his early military rise through alliances and betrayal around Jugurtha.
SYLLA Lucius Cornelius Sylla was descended of a patrician or noble family. Of his ancestors, Rufinus, it is said, had been consul, and incurred a disgrace more signal than his distinction. For being found possessed of more than ten pounds of silver plate, contrary to the law, he was for this reason put out of the senate. His posterity continued ever after in obscurity, nor had Sylla himself any opulent parentage. …
Agesilaus receives a javelin from Pharnabazus’s son, repays with gifts, and remains loyal to him in exile; Plutarch also highlights Agesilaus’s justice toward friends, with exceptions for pressing duties, as reported by Hieronymus.
you." Agesilaus was taken with the answer, and shook hands with him; and rising, said, "How much rather had I have so brave a man my friend than mine enemy." Pharnabazus being gone off, his son, staying behind, ran up to Agesilaus, and smilingly said, "Agesilaus, I make you my guest;" and thereupon presented him with a javelin which he had in his hand. Agesilaus received it, and being much taken with the good mien …
Plutarch praises Cleomenes’s austere personal kingship—simple meals, minimal ceremony, personal conversation—and contrasts it with luxurious kingship to explain why elites and ambassadors joined him.
giving them lessons, or, at leisure times, diverting themselves with their native jests, and quick Laconian answers; the good results of which we have noticed in the life of Lycurgus. He himself instructed all by his example; he was a living pattern of temperance before every man's eyes; and his course of living was neither more stately, nor more expensive, nor in any way more pretentious, than that of any of his pe…
Plutarch portrays Antony’s appearance, supposed descent from Hercules, his raillery and drinking that endear him to soldiers, and his generosity, illustrated by doubling money a steward tried to short.
consequence was that he left behind him a great name among the Alexandrians, and all who were serving in the Roman army looked upon him as a most gallant soldier. He had also a very good and noble appearance; his beard was well grown, his forehead large, and his nose aquiline, giving him altogether a bold, masculine look, that reminded people of the faces of Hercules in paintings and sculptures. It was, moreover, a…
Brutus and Cassius reunite at Smyrna with confidence and mutual respect; Brutus praises Cassius’s abilities while describing Brutus as gentle, principled, and relying on virtue over force.
to persevere in their first purpose, they ought not to be too far from Italy, but make what haste they could thither, and endeavor to relieve their fellow-citizens from oppression. Cassius obeyed his summons, and returned, and Brutus went to meet him; and at Smyrna they met, which was the first time they had seen one another since they parted at the Piraeus in Athens, one for Syria, and the other for Macedonia. The…
He concludes that a knight needs love, invents Dulcinea del Toboso as his lady, and plans to win adventures so others will swear loyalty to her on his behalf.
and to style himself Don Quixote of La Mancha, whereby, he considered, he described accurately his origin and country, and did honour to it in taking his surname from it. So then, his armour being furbished, his morion turned into a helmet, his hack christened, and he himself confirmed, he came to the conclusion that nothing more was needed now but to look out for a lady to be in love with; for a knight-errant witho…
Don Quixote persuades the poor farm laborer Sancho Panza to become his esquire with promises of winning an island and governing it, while Don Quixote prepares equipment and they secretly depart at night.
revival of knight-errantry. The curate sometimes contradicted him, sometimes agreed with him, for if he had not observed this precaution he would have been unable to bring him to reason. Meanwhile Don Quixote worked upon a farm labourer, a neighbour of his, an honest man (if indeed that title can be given to him who is poor), but with very little wit in his pate. In a word, he so talked him over, and with such persu…
While strolling outside Florence, Anselmo confesses to Lothario that he is tormented by an unusual desire: to test whether Camilla is as virtuous as he believes, like fire testing gold.
one side and excuses on the other. It happened, however, that on one occasion when the two were strolling together outside the city, Anselmo addressed the following words to Lothario. “Thou mayest suppose, Lothario my friend, that I am unable to give sufficient thanks for the favours God has rendered me in making me the son of such parents as mine were, and bestowing upon me with no niggard hand what are called the …
Anselmo explains his plan: have Lothario woo Camilla to see whether she withstands temptation, arguing that virtue is proved by trial and victory, and promising Lothario that the ‘conquest’ will stop at honor.
methods of confiding to him his most hidden thoughts, for he well knew he might reckon upon his counsel in diverting them, or his help in carrying them into effect. “That is the truth,” replied Anselmo, “and relying upon that I will tell thee, friend Lothario, that the desire which harasses me is that of knowing whether my wife Camilla is as good and as perfect as I think her to be; and I cannot satisfy myself of th…
Lothario rejects Anselmo’s request as incompatible with Christian duty and friendship, arguing that to rob Anselmo of honor is also to rob himself of life, and warns he must respond to the real moral object of Anselmo’s desire.
at once engage in this love struggle, not lukewarmly nor slothfully, but with the energy and zeal that my desire demands, and with the loyalty our friendship assures me of.” Such were the words Anselmo addressed to Lothario, who listened to them with such attention that, except to say what has been already mentioned, he did not open his lips until the other had finished. Then perceiving that he had no more to say, a…
Anselmo agrees that if he is swayed away from honour he will be corrected by Lothario’s plan to court Camilla only as a “lukewarm and make-believe fashion,” then reveal the stratagem later to preserve honour.
must seek some other instrument for thy dishonour and misfortune; for such I will not consent to be, though I lose thy friendship, the greatest loss that I can conceive.” Having said this, the wise and virtuous Lothario was silent, and Anselmo, troubled in mind and deep in thought, was unable for a while to utter a word in reply; but at length he said, “I have listened, Lothario my friend, attentively, as thou hast …
While Camilla and Lothario are left alone at table, Lothario feigns sleeping, then reports to Anselmo that he first extolled Camilla’s beauty to make her receptive next time, even praising the devil’s method of deception.
back. In short he contrived to put so good a face on the reason, or the folly, of his absence that no one could have suspected it was a pretence. Anselmo took his departure, and Camilla and Lothario were left alone at the table, for the rest of the household had gone to dinner. Lothario saw himself in the lists according to his friend’s wish, and facing an enemy that could by her beauty alone vanquish a squadron of …
Don Quixote privately rebukes Sancho for claiming he “took” him from his cottage, then asks what villagers think of him; Sancho reports that people see Don Quixote as a madman.
“I promise you,” said the curate, “the niece or the housekeeper will tell us by-and-by, for they are not the ones to forget to listen.” Meanwhile Don Quixote shut himself up in his room with Sancho, and when they were alone he said to him, “It grieves me greatly, Sancho, that thou shouldst have said, and sayest, that I took thee out of thy cottage, when thou knowest I did not remain in my house. We sallied forth tog…
Sancho and Don Quixote sleep under trees while the narrator adds reflections on the friendship of Dapple and Rocinante; later Don Quixote wakes, identifies a knight-errant, and listens as he begins lamenting love.
this I hope to yield fruit in abundance that will not fall away or slide from those paths of good breeding that your worship has made in my parched understanding.” Don Quixote laughed at Sancho’s affected phraseology, and perceived that what he said about his improvement was true, for now and then he spoke in a way that surprised him; though always, or mostly, when Sancho tried to talk fine and attempted polite lang…
Trifaldi, acting for the duchess’s entertainment, tells how Queen Doña Maguncia’s realm of Kandy produced Princess Antonomasia and how the private gentleman Don Clavijo gained her help to pursue her through her duenna’s access and verse.
aid your worship as far as he can; unpack your woes and lay them before us, and leave us to deal with them, for we’ll be all of one mind.” The duke and duchess, as it was they who had made the experiment of this adventure, were ready to burst with laughter at all this, and between themselves they commended the clever acting of the Trifaldi, who, returning to her seat, said, “Queen Doña Maguncia reigned over the famo…
At night Don Quixote is worn out by a ladies’ dancing party, declares Dulcinea as his true love, and is carried to bed while Sancho jokes about knights dancing and not enjoying capering.
Full Size Night came and they went home, and there was a ladies’ dancing party, for Don Antonio’s wife, a lady of rank and gaiety, beauty and wit, had invited some friends of hers to come and do honour to her guest and amuse themselves with his strange delusions. Several of them came, they supped sumptuously, the dance began at about ten o’clock. Among the ladies were two of a mischievous and frolicsome turn, and, t…
He concludes a knight-errant needs a lady, so he chooses Aldonza Lorenzo as Dulcinea del Toboso, and fantasizes about defeating giants and presenting the defeated foe to Dulcinea.
and to style himself Don Quixote of La Mancha, whereby, he considered, he described accurately his origin and country, and did honour to it in taking his surname from it. So then, his armour being furbished, his morion turned into a helmet, his hack christened, and he himself confirmed, he came to the conclusion that nothing more was needed now but to look out for a lady to be in love with; for a knight-errant witho…
A biographical sketch recounts Wollstonecraft’s childhood, friendships, teaching and publication work, and then explains her move from writing reactions to Burke into composing A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, finished in six weeks.
without her aid, they could not have had access; her father was sustained at length from her funds; she even found means to take under her protection an orphan child. She had acquired a facility in the arrangement and expression of thoughts, in her avocation of translator, and compiler, which was no doubt of great use to her afterward. It was not long until she had occasion for them. The eminent Burke produced his…
Wollstonecraft contrasts friendship and respect with transitory love, arguing that women should not feign coldness or secrecy to secure affection but should strengthen mind and character, since friendship succeeds love in marriage.
amuse the languid hours, and soften the cares of a fellow-creature who is willing to be enlivened by her smiles and tricks, when the serious business of life is over. Besides, the woman who strengthens her body and exercises her mind will, by managing her family and practising various virtues, become the friend, and not the humble dependent of her husband; and if she deserves his regard by possessing such substantia…
Cyrus’s generosity is illustrated with gifts and personal attentions—food, wine, and even sending hay for friends’ horses—culminating in the claim that nobody loved Cyrus more than anyone did.
he felt the need of this friend or that to help him, so he tried to help each of them in return in whatever seemed to be their heart's desire. Many were the gifts bestowed on him, for many and diverse reasons; no one man, perhaps, ever received more; no one, certainly, was ever more ready to bestow them upon others, with an eye ever to the taste of each, so as to gratify what he saw to be the individual requirement.…
Linda watches a sailor closely and discovers it is her brother William, reunited with tears and laughter, then describes her gratitude that suffering binds people, before introducing the next conflict with the Flint family.
influences of her intelligent conversation, and the opportunities for reading, which were gladly allowed me whenever I had leisure from my duties. I gradually became more energetic and more cheerful. The old feeling of insecurity, especially with regard to my children, often threw its dark shadow across my sunshine. Mrs. Bruce offered me a home for Ellen; but pleasant as it would have been, I did not dare to accept …
Religious ceremonies draw groups together, replacing individual utilitarian attention with communal beliefs and ancestor memory, which renew social life and strengthen individuals’ sense of inner mastery.
the effect of the cult really is to recreate periodically a moral being upon which we depend as it depends upon us. Now this being does exist: it is society. Howsoever little importance the religious ceremonies may have, they put the group into action; the groups assemble to celebrate them. So their first effect is to bring individuals together, to multiply the relations between them and to make them more intimate w…
Oliver and Rollanz fight to the end against the caliphal force: Oliver kills an alcaliph, cries for Rollant, dies, and Rollanz faints, reflecting loyalty and brotherly reconciliation.
CXLIV When Rollant sees those misbegotten men, Who are more black than ink is on the pen With no part white, only their teeth except, Then says that count: "I know now very well That here to die we're bound, as I can tell. Strike on, the Franks! For so I recommend." Says Oliver: "Who holds back, is condemned!" Upon those words, the Franks to strike again. CXLV Franks are but few; which, when the pag…
Siegfried is welcomed as a powerful guest in Burgundy, agreeing to help Gunther if enemies attack, while he quietly longs to see the beloved maiden he has never met, Kriemhild.
no such wrong, but that we may still part the strife in courteous wise. Be advised of me and hold him still as friend; far better will this beseem us." Then spake the doughty Hagen: "It may well grieve us and all thy knights that he ever rode for battle to the Rhine. He should have given it over; my lordings never would have done such ill to him." To this Siegfried, the mighty man, made answer: "Doth this irk you, …
He defends Caesar’s generosity as real at a heroic scale, citing the cost of a forum, per-capita gifts to Romans, army donations after the civil war, and the troops’ loyalty and refusal to serve against him.
you down the tide--no matter under what winds, no matter towards what shore." Finally, we might seek for *characteristic* anecdotes of Caesar in his unexampled liberalities and contempt of money. Upon this last topic it is the just remark of Casaubon that some instances of Caesar's munificence have been thought apocryphal, or to rest upon false readings, simply from ignorance of the heroic scale upon which the Roman…
Cortés reconciles Sempoalla with Tzinpantzinco, raids no longer continue, and he intervenes when an ally named Mora steals fowls by nearly hanging him—rescued by Alvarado; afterward, Sempoalla’s leaders present wives to strengthen alliance ties.
master. On this occasion, likewise, numerous complaints were made against Motecusuma, which all terminated with instances of his oppression similar to what we had heard from the Sempoallans and Quiahuitzlans. The next morning very early Cortes sent for the chiefs and caziques of the Sempoallans. In fear and anxiety had they passed the while, in consequence of his anger for having attempted to deceive us with a pack …
Tocqueville argues that New England townships, though small, act independently and cultivate attachment, order, and “active citizens” rather than ambitious passions, because authority is local, limited, and participation is near home.
indeed small and limited, but within that sphere its action is unrestrained; and its independence gives to it a real importance which its extent and population may not always ensure. It is to be remembered that the affections of men generally lie on the side of authority. Patriotism is not durable in a conquered nation. The New Englander is attached to his township, not only because he was born in it, but because it…
Tocqueville links equality of conditions to softened manners, arguing that aristocratic caste systems breed insensibility because real sympathy exists only between people who are alike.
Equal We perceive that for several ages social conditions have tended to equality, and we discover that in the course of the same period the manners of society have been softened. Are these two things merely contemporaneous, or does any secret link exist between them, so that the one cannot go on without making the other advance? Several causes may concur to render the manners of a people less rude; but, of all thes…
He claims democratic equality does not erase private differences but leads people to form small private circles of friends and guests, rather than living promiscuously in shared community recreation.
Americans Into A Number Of Small Private Circles It may probably be supposed that the final consequence and necessary effect of democratic institutions is to confound together all the members of the community in private as well as in public life, and to compel them all to live in common; but this would be to ascribe a very coarse and oppressive form to the equality which originates in democracy. No state of society …
Cicero writes to Servius about his grief after losing a close relative, contrasting it with others’ consolations, and explains that the lack of public life and a “refuge” drives him to hope for Servius’s timely visit.
FICULEA (APRIL) YES, indeed, my dear Servius, I would have wished--as you say--that you had been by my side at the time of my grievous loss. How much help your presence might have given me, both by consolation and by your taking an almost equal share in my sorrow, I can easily gather from the fact that after reading your letter I experienced a great feeling of relief. For not only was what you wrote calculated to so…
Zarathustra places the dead man in a hollow tree to protect him from wolves, sleeps in the forest, and has a “new truth” that he needs living companions to follow him and create new values.
and a dead one,” said Zarathustra. “Give me something to eat and drink, I forgot it during the day. He that feedeth the hungry refresheth his own soul, saith wisdom.” The old man withdrew, but came back immediately and offered Zarathustra bread and wine. “A bad country for the hungry,” said he; “that is why I live here. Animal and man come unto me, the anchorite. But bid thy companion eat and drink also, he is weari…
Zarathustra says a truly personal virtue is nameless and shared with no one, and he claims that passions become virtues, while jealousy can make even virtues collapse.
The creating Self created for itself esteeming and despising, it created for itself joy and woe. The creating body created for itself spirit, as a hand to its will. Even in your folly and despising ye each serve your Self, ye despisers of the body. I tell you, your very Self wanteth to die, and turneth away from life. No longer can your Self do that which it desireth most:—create beyond itself. That is what it desi…
Zarathustra contrasts the solitary anchorite with the need for a “friend,” arguing that the friend is the third presence who prevents self-talk from sinking, and that true friendship requires one to be capable of enmity.
XIII. CHASTITY. I love the forest. It is bad to live in cities: there, there are too many of the lustful. Is it not better to fall into the hands of a murderer, than into the dreams of a lustful woman? And just look at these men: their eye saith it—they know nothing better on earth than to lie with a woman. Filth is at the bottom of their souls; and alas! if their filth hath still spirit in it! Would that ye wer…
Zarathustra continues his teaching on friendship as requiring discernment, selective pity, and mutual honesty, while declaring slaves and tyrants cannot have friends and claiming women are not yet capable of friendship but only love.
He who maketh no secret of himself shocketh: so much reason have ye to fear nakedness! Aye, if ye were Gods, ye could then be ashamed of clothing! Thou canst not adorn thyself fine enough for thy friend; for thou shalt be unto him an arrow and a longing for the Superman. Sawest thou ever thy friend asleep—to know how he looketh? What is usually the countenance of thy friend? It is thine own countenance, in a coarse…
Zarathustra rejects neighbor-love as misled self-adornment, urges solitude for creating a friend from oneself, and warns against self-flattery and hollow associations that belittle character.
Ye cannot endure it with yourselves, and do not love yourselves sufficiently: so ye seek to mislead your neighbour into love, and would fain gild yourselves with his error. Would that ye could not endure it with any kind of near ones, or their neighbours; then would ye have to create your friend and his overflowing heart out of yourselves. Ye call in a witness when ye want to speak well of yourselves; and when ye h…
Zarathustra explains his impatience with silence: his love pours down from mountains into valleys through new paths and new speech, even using his spear on enemies, and he urges his friends to open their hearts as soft ground for wisdom.
One requiteth a teacher badly if one remain merely a scholar. And why will ye not pluck at my wreath? Ye venerate me; but what if your veneration should some day collapse? Take heed lest a statue crush you! Ye say, ye believe in Zarathustra? But of what account is Zarathustra! Ye are my believers: but of what account are all believers! Ye had not yet sought yourselves: then did ye find me. So do all believers; the…
Zarathustra’s night-song links his loneliness and need for expression to giving, envy, and the “hostility of light” toward shining ones, ending with longing for speech.
Oh, this is the hostility of light to the shining one: unpityingly doth it pursue its course. Unfair to the shining one in its innermost heart, cold to the suns:—thus travelleth every sun. Like a storm do the suns pursue their courses: that is their travelling. Their inexorable will do they follow: that is their coldness. Oh, ye only is it, ye dark, nightly ones, that extract warmth from the shining ones! Oh, ye o…
Four days out, Zarathustra accepts fate again and celebrates the afternoon of his life while planning to create companions, mastering longing, awaiting his final testing and struggle.
friends, then had he surmounted all his pain—: triumphantly and with firm foot did he again accept his fate. And then talked Zarathustra in this wise to his exulting conscience: Alone am I again, and like to be so, alone with the pure heaven, and the open sea; and again is the afternoon around me. On an afternoon did I find my friends for the first time; on an afternoon, also, did I find them a second time:—at the …
Zarathustra argues that among people everything becomes misheard, out-talked, and betrayed, while he confesses to having indulged others’ misjudgments out of pity and self-concealment from their spiteful “good.”
—Until at last thou alone sattest thirsty amongst the drunken ones, and wailedst nightly: ‘Is taking not more blessed than giving? And stealing yet more blessed than taking?’—THAT was forsakenness! And dost thou remember, O Zarathustra? When thy stillest hour came and drove thee forth from thyself, when with wicked whispering it said: ‘Speak and succumb!’— —When it disgusted thee with all thy waiting and silence, a…