HKB
33 passages · search this phrase →
Often appears with: mourning and grief · pleasure, pain, and the good life · parents and children · justice as a virtue · funeral rites and burial · crime and punishment · books, libraries, and learning · religious persecution and toleration · rank, class, and social order · education and the training of the young · duty, conscience, and obligation · contracts, oaths, and obligation
Usually: narrative (13) · detachment (13) · grief and loss (10) · lament (7) · speech or oration (6) · reflection (5) · confronting death (5) · the fall of the great (5) · argument (4) · coming of age (4)
“Such a sentiment, which had rendered the legions of the republic almost invincible, could make but a very feeble impression on the mercenary servants of a despotic prince; and it became necessary to supply that defect by other motives, of a different, but not less forcible nature—honor and religion.” Edward Gibbon, History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire · insight
“After Siegfried's death, and this is true, she dwelt with many a grief full thirteen years, that she could not forget the warrior's death.” Unknown (Middle High German epic tradition), The Nibelungenlied · observation
“No, Sir, I should never be happy by being less rational.” James Boswell, Boswell's Life of Johnson · insight
“In this manner I used to look upon my condition with the utmost regret. I had nobody to converse with, but now and then this neighbour; no work to be done, but by the labour of my hands; and I used to say, I lived just like a man cast away upon some desolate island, that had nobody there but himself.” Daniel Defoe, The Life and Adventures of Robinson Crusoe · observation
“Only the wise man of them all is he, The others e'en as shadows flit and flee.” Plutarch, Plutarch: Lives of the noble Grecians and Romans · vivid
“This especially I request and beseech you to observe, that none of you let any impulse of sudden ardour lead you to inflict injury on any private individual; recollecting that our greatest renown is not derived so much from the numberless defeats of the enemy as from the safety of the provinces, and their freedom from injury, which is celebrated as an eminent example of our virtue.” Ammianus Marcellinus, The Roman History of Ammianus Marcellinus · precept
“Yesterday completes half a century since I entered the married state, then just your age. I have great cause of thankfulness, that I have lived so long and enjoyed so large a portion of happiness as has been my lot.” John Adams (as compiled/edited by Charles Francis Adams), Familiar Letters of John Adams and His Wife Abigail · insight
Washington records the death of his wife in May 1884 and the birth of their child Portia M. Washington, emphasizing her devotion to Tuskegee’s school work and shared goals.
constant work in the interests of the school, together with her housekeeping duties, my wife passed away in May, 1884. One child, Portia M. Washington, was born during our marriage. From the first, my wife most earnestly devoted her thoughts and time to the work of the school, and was completely one with me in every interest and ambition. She passed away, however, before she had an opportunity of seeing what the sch…
Cato is portrayed as having suffered personal losses after his presumption—his wife and son die—and he later marries again through arrangements, setting out to have many children and maintain public duty.
might go home again to their own schools, and declaim to the Greek children, and leave the Roman youth, to be obedient, as hitherto, to their own laws and governors. Yet he did this not out of any anger, as some think, to Carneades; but because he wholly despised philosophy, and out of a kind of pride, scoffed at the Greek studies and literature; as, for example, he would say, that Socrates was a prating seditious f…
Cato’s second marriage is carried out with a servant girl, his eldest son dies in office, and Plutarch emphasizes Cato’s continued engagement in public affairs alongside farming and writing.
dream a little too much; and by the use of this kind of physic, he said, he not only made himself and those about him well, but kept them so. However, for this his presumption, he seemed not to have escaped unpunished; for he lost both his wife and his son; though he himself, being of a strong robust constitution, held out longer; so that he would often, even in his old days, address himself to women, and when he wa…
Agasias swears Dexippus did not follow his order and claims he rescued the prisoner to stop Dexippus’s abuse; then Agasias, generals, and the rescued man plead their cases before Cleander.
win praise and honour throughout Hellas, we are destined to sink below the level of the rest of the world, banned from the Hellenic cities whose common name we boast." After him Agasias got up, and said, "I swear to you, sirs, by the gods and goddesses, verily and indeed, neither Xenophon nor any one else among you bade me rescue the man. I saw an honest man--one of my own company--being taken up by Dexippus, the ma…
Julian publicly summons the army, argues his “revolt” is safer than open conflict, offers a plan to seize the Dacian frontier, and demands an oath of fidelity while warning against harm to private individuals.
which, after much slaughter and many periods of protracted and severe disasters, is at last replaced in a healthy state, will for ever bear witness to posterity of our achievements. 5. "But now since, constrained both by the authority of your judgment, and also by the necessity of the case, I have been raised to the rank of emperor, under the favour of God and of you, I aim at still greater things, if fortune should…
From 921 to 922, King Edward orders rebuilding at Towcester and repairs at Wigmore and other sites, repeatedly besieges and fights, and secures allegiance across East Anglia, Essex, and Cambridge.
year also was the daughter of Ethered, lord of the Mercians, deprived of all authority over the Mercians, and led into Wessex, three weeks before midwinter. Her name was Healfwina. A.D. 921. This year, before Easter, King Edward ordered his men to go to the town of Towcester, and to rebuild it. Then again, after that, in the same year, during the gang-days, he ordered the town of Wigmore to be repaired. The same …
Gibbon explains how Roman military patriotism was replaced for imperial troops by motives of honor and religion, enforced through oaths, devotion to the legion’s eagle, and harsh discipline backed by pay and punishment.
32 (return) [ See Vegetius, de Re Militari, l. i. c. 2—7.] That public virtue, which among the ancients was denominated patriotism, is derived from a strong sense of our own interest in the preservation and prosperity of the free government of which we are members. Such a sentiment, which had rendered the legions of the republic almost invincible, could make but a very feeble impression…
Kriemhild, having been robbed of the hoard, mourns for thirteen years while Hagen remains at home out of hatred, and the treasure is left sunk in the Rhine as their oaths prevent giving it back.
Spake then Hagen: "Let me be the guilty one." Few of their oaths were kept. From the widow they took the mighty store and Hagen made him master of all the keys. This vexed her brother Gernot, when he heard the tale aright. Lord Giselher spake: "Hagen hath done my sister much of harm; I should prevent it. It would cost him his life, were he not my kin." Siegfried's wife shed tears anew. Then spake the Lord Gernot: "…
It states that from 1801 until her death on October 28, 1818, Abigail Adams lived uninterruptedly at Quincy, continued writing publicly minded letters, and remained cheerful despite family losses.
excitable temperament no virtue is more necessary in a wife, and none more essential to the happiness and prosperity of both the parties, than that which has been now described. From the year 1801 down to the day of her death, which happened on the 28th of October, 1818, she remained uninterruptedly at home in Quincy. This period furnishes abundance of familiar letters. Her interest in public affairs did not cease w…
Machiavelli explains Roman religion’s role in civil society by contrasting Romulus and Numa, describing how Numa used divine authority to discipline people and secure public oaths.
Though Rome had Romulus for her first founder, and as a daughter owed him her being and nurture, nevertheless, when the institutions of Romulus were seen by Heaven to be insufficient for so great a State, the Roman senate were moved to choose Numa Pompilius as his successor, that he might look to all matters which Romulus had neglected. He finding the people fierce and turbulent, and desiring with the help of the pea…
In a letter “To the Adventurer,” a London merchant describes rising from small beginnings to wealth, then buying a country estate to retire—only to discover that inactivity brings restlessness and boredom rather than tranquility.
to encourage those who endeavour to enlarge the power of art, since they often succeed beyond expectation; and when they fail, may sometimes benefit the world even by their miscarriages. No. 102. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 27, 1753 ----Quid tam dextro pede concipis, ut te Conatus non poeniteat votique peracti? JUV. Sat. x. 5. What in the conduct of our life appears So well design'd, so luckily begun, But when we have o…
Johnson and others debate country vs city living, old age and rationality, and the newspaper fashion of “Modern Characters” from Shakespeare, including Johnson’s remarks and later impressions in the drawing-room.
mind with knowledge. He transplanted it from one place to another; and it did not settle in his mind; so he could not tell what was in his own books.' We talked of living in the country. JOHNSON. 'No wise man will go to live in the country, unless he has something to do which can be better done in the country. For instance: if he is to shut himself up for a year to study a science, it is better to look out to the fi…
Cephalus hosts the group at Polemarchus’s house, argues that old age can bring calm rather than misery if one’s character is peaceful, and explains how regret and complaints stem more from temperament than from age itself.
then deny my request, but make our house your resort and keep company with these young men; we are old friends, and you will be quite at home with us. I replied: There is nothing which for my part I like better, Cephalus, than conversing with aged men; for I regard them as travellers who have gone a journey which I too may have to go, and of whom I ought to enquire, whether the way is smooth and easy, or rugged and…
The frame of the Republic is described: a festival for the goddess Bendis in the Piraeus, Socrates and Glaucon are detained by Polemarchus, and Socrates visits Cephalus, who discusses aging and justice.
When the rhetorical advantage of reciting the Dialogue has been gained, the attention is not distracted by any reference to the audience; nor is the reader further reminded of the extraordinary length of the narrative. Of the numerous company, three only take any serious part in the discussion; nor are we informed whether in the evening they went to the torch-race, or talked, as in the Symposium, through the night. T…
Cephalus tells Socrates that old age brings calm and freedom because passions relax, and that many complaints come less from age than from personal character and temperament.
then deny my request, but make our house your resort and keep company with these young men; we are old friends, and you will be quite at home with us. I replied: There is nothing which for my part I like better, Cephalus, than conversing with aged men; for I regard them as travellers who have gone a journey which I too may have to go, and of whom I ought to enquire, whether the way is smooth and easy, or rugged and …
The endnotes identify genealogical links for people named Ellidagrim, Asgrim, Aundot, Jorunn, Teit, Helga, and Olof Harvest-heal, tracing mothers and fathers across families.
ENDNOTES: (1) Ellidagrim was Asgrim's son, Aundot the Crow's son. His mother's name was Jorunn, and she was the daughter of Teit, the son of Kettlebjorn the Old of Mossfell. The mother of Teit was Helga, daughter of Thord Skeggi's son, Hrapp's son, Bjorn's son the Roughfooted, Grim's son, the Lord of Sogn in Norway. The mother of Jorunn was Olof Harvest-heal, daughter of Bodvar, Vik…
Jacob comes to Hebron, where Isaac lived; Isaac dies at an advanced age and is buried in Hebron by his sons with his wife, Rebecca (Rebeka) no longer alive.
all that South Sea, which included the Red Sea, and the Persian Gulf, as far as the East Indies; as Reland and Hudson here truly note, from the old geographers.] 5 (return) [ Hence it appears, that Josephus thought several, at least, of the brute animals, particularly the serpent, could speak before the fall. And I think few of the more perfect kinds of those animals want the organs of speech at this day. Many induc…
Izates dies after ruling twenty-four years, leaves twenty-four sons and daughters, appoints Monobazus to succeed him, and Helena mourns; Monobazus sends Izates’s and Helena’s bones to Jerusalem for burial.
returned home; when Cinnamus met him, worshipped him, and saluted him as a king, and took the diadem off his own head, and put it on the head of Artabanus. 3. And thus was Artahanus restored to his kingdom again by the means of Izates, when he had lost it by the means of the grandees of the kingdom. Nor was he unmindful of the benefits he had conferred upon him, but rewarded him with such honors as were of the great…
He describes the dying Countess’s management by Lorenzy and his wife and a niece-like maid (Mademoiselle Pontal), then the Countess’s death, Rousseau’s tears, and the aftermath including wages and a small payment from her heir.
her service. She drew her judgment less from what I really was, than from what she had made me, and by considering me as a footman prevented my appearing otherwise. I am inclined to think I suffered at that time by the same interested game of concealed manoeuvre, which has counteracted me throughout my life, and given me a very natural aversion for everything that has the least appearance of it. Madam de Vercellis …
A biographer describes Bede’s life as unusually uneventful: born near Wearmouth and Jarrow, educated by Abbots Benedict and Ceolfrid, ordained deacon and priest, and spending his life learning, teaching, and writing.
LIFE OF BEDE Few lives afford less material for the biographer than Bede’s; few seem to possess a more irresistible fascination. Often as the simple story has been told, the desire to tell it afresh appears to be perennial. And yet it is perhaps as wholly devoid of incident as any life could be. The short autobiographical sketch at the end of the “Ecclesiastical History” tells us practically all: that he was born in…
The text gives an account of Bede’s dates, training, and death, arguing he was born around 673, ordained deacon in 691, priest in 702, and died on Wednesday Ascension Day in 735, then discusses study and manuscripts.
As he ended his sermon with a solemn invocation of the Trinity, the angels (in one version it is the stones of a rocky valley) responded “Amen, very venerable Bede.” The land on which Bede was born was granted by Egfrid to Benedict Biscop for the foundation of the monasteries a short time after the birth of Bede. Wearmouth was founded in 674, Jarrow in 681 or 682. Bede was among those members of the community who we…
Edwin’s earlier exile story is told: Ethelfrid’s plots and bribes force Redwald to threaten betrayal, but Edwin refuses to break his pledge and stays at the palace in anguish.
vow which he had made, when he received the vision, promising to fulfil it, if he should be delivered from the troubles of that time, and advanced to the throne. The vision was this. When Ethelfrid,(227) his predecessor, was persecuting him, he wandered for many years as an exile, hiding in divers places and kingdoms, and at last came to Redwald, beseeching him to give him protection against the snares of his powerf…
A quoted line from Theseus states that Oedipus forbade any funeral rites or moral approaches to the hidden tomb, and that Oaths require keeping the promise to Zeus.
wherein he lies; Saying, “If thou keep’st my hest Thou shalt hold thy realm at rest.” The God of Oaths this promise heard, And to Zeus I pledged my word. ANTIGONE. Well, if he would have it so, We must yield. Then let us go Back to Thebes, if yet we may Heal this mortal feud and stay The self-wrought doom That drives our brothers to their tomb. THESEUS. Go in peace; nor will I spare Ought of toil and zealous care, …
The author continues with Orcagna’s wider context: he praises contemporaneous unknown sculptors and describes notable Florentine funerary monuments and tomb effigies at the Certosa of Florence and elsewhere for the Acciaiuoli family.
at the age of sixty he completed the course of his life in 1389, and was borne with honour to burial from his house in the via Vecchia de' Corazzai. In the days of the Orcagna there were many who were skilful in sculpture and architecture, whose names are unknown, but their works show that they are worthy of high praise and commendation. An example of such work is the Monastery of the Certosa of Florence, erected at…
This is a repeated line continuing the earlier discussion that a mare should be at the end of four or five years, then be rested and allowed to pass a fallow period.
at the end of four or five years. It is quite necessary that she should wait one year and should pass through a fallow, as it were--[Greek: poiein osper neion]."] [Footnote 142: Mules were employed in antiquity from the earliest times. In Homer they were used for drawing wagons: thus Nausicaa drove a mule team to haul out the family wash, and Priam made his visit to Achilles in a mule litter. Homer professes to pref…
In Brazil Robinson tries plantation life, regrets selling Xury, feels socially isolated, and justifies his earlier choices by comparing his solitary “island” hardship with his current comparative well-being.
would reach, and formed a plan for my plantation and settlement; such a one as might be suitable to the stock which I proposed to myself to receive from England. I had a neighbour, a Portuguese, of Lisbon, but born of English parents, whose name was Wells, and in much such circumstances as I was. I call him my neighbour, because his plantation lay next to mine, and we went on very sociably together. My stock was but…
Darius, once he joins seven Persian conspirators, says he is already committed to killing the Magian king and argues that since others now know, they must act immediately or he will accuse them.
come from the land of Persia, for of this his father was governor. Accordingly when he came, the six men of the Persians resolved to associate Dareios also with themselves. 71. These then having come together, being seven in number, gave pledges of faith to one another and deliberated together; and when it came to Dareios to declare his opinion, he spoke to them as follows: "I thought that I alone knew this, namely …
He gives character sketches of his father and mother—health, judgment, piety, and counsel at home—then closes with a memorial inscription and reflections on growing older and losing former methodical habits.
complained of; several of us were corrected by our fathers; and though I pleaded the usefulness of the work, mine convinced me that nothing was useful which was not honest. I think you may like to know something of his person and character. He had an excellent constitution of body, was of middle stature, but well set, and very strong; he was ingenious, could draw prettily, was skilled a little in music, and had a cl…
Folly defends aging’s “doting” as her gift, comparing old men’s conversation to children’s play, and portrays late life as gradually moving backward into childhood until death without distress.
brook in comparison), from which, as soon as they have drunk down a long forgetfulness, they wash away by degrees the perplexity of their minds, and so wax young again. But perhaps you'll say they are foolish and doting. Admit it; 'tis the very essence of childhood; as if to be such were not to be a fool, or that that condition had anything pleasant in it, but that it understood nothing. For who would not look upon …
Folly claims it restores youth and prevents old age by contrasting its “fat fools” with grim philosophers who grow old from restless, reason-prey thoughts, praising fools as happiest.
so much they grow backward into the likeness of children, until like them they pass from life to death, without any weariness of the one, or sense of the other. And now, let him that will compare the benefits they receive by me, the metamorphoses of the gods, of whom I shall not mention what they have done in their pettish humors but where they have been most favorable: turning one into a tree, another into a bird, …
A new section begins, “The Old Men’s Dialogue,” in which Eusebius, Pampirus, Polygamus, and Glycion plan to travel to Antwerp after forty years, discussing age and preparations for the journey.
see here? If I am not mistaken, or do not see clear, I see three old Companions sitting by me; _Pampirus, Polygamus* and *Glycion;_ they are certainly the very same. *Pa.* What do you mean, with your Glass Eyes, you Wizard? Pray come nearer a little, *Eusebius.* *Po.* Hail, heartily, my wish'd for *Eusebius.* *Gl.* All Health to you, the best of Men. *Eu.* One Blessing upon you all, my dear Friends. What God, or …
Glaucus describes his study routine—learned stories after meals, short reading, music, and discussion—claims he doesn’t suffer severe old-age infirmities, and challenges Polygamus to explain how he became old.
*Eu.* Don't you study sometimes? *Gl.* I do. In that is the greatest Pleasure of my Life: But I make a Diversion of it, but not a Toil. I study either for Pleasure or Profit of my Life, but not for Ostentation. After Meat I have a Collation of learned Stories, or else somebody to read to me, and I never sit to my Books above an Hour at a Time: Then I get up and take my Violin, and walk about in my Chamber, and sing …
Polygamus narrates his licentious youth at Paris, multiple secret wives including a “French woman” with a French husband, continual remarriage, and how excessive drinking, late hours, and whoring caused his old age.
Eighth should die to Day, I would marry the Ninth to-Morrow. Nay, it vexes me that I must not have two or three, when one Cock has so many Hens. *Eu.* Indeed I don't wonder, Mr. Cock, that you are no fatter, and that you have brought old Age upon you to that Degree; for nothing brings on old Age faster, than excessive and hard Drinking, keeping late Hours, and Whoring, extravagant Love of Women, and immoderate Vener…