Enlarge my Life with Multitude of Days, In Health, in Sickness, thus the Suppliant prays; Hides from himself his State, and shuns to know, That Life protracted is protracted Woe. Time hovers o'er, impatient to destroy, And shuts up all the Passages of Joy: In vain their Gifts the bounteous Seasons pour, The Fruit autumnal, … Continue reading The vanity of human wishes
Seneca to Lucilius on philosophy
I point other men to the right path, which I have found late in life, when wearied with wandering. I cry out to them: “Avoid whatever pleases the throng: avoid the gifts of Chance! Halt before every good which Chance brings to you, in a spirit of doubt and fear; for it is the dumb … Continue reading Seneca to Lucilius on philosophy
Cicero on magnanimity
'A spirit which is utterly courageous and noble is conspicuous especially for two features. The first of these is disregard for external circumstances, springing from the conviction that a man ought to revere or aspire to or seek nothing except what is honourable and proper, and should not lie down before any man or emotional … Continue reading Cicero on magnanimity
Seneca on Anger
A description of anger. "Some of the wisest of men have ... called anger a short madness: for it is equally devoid of self-control, regardless of decorum, forgetful of kinship, obstinately engrossed in whatever it begins to do, deaf to reason and advice, excited by trifling causes, awkward at perceiving what is true and just, … Continue reading Seneca on Anger
Karl Kautsky on the educated proletariat
'There is still a third category of proletarians that has gone far on the road to its complete development – the educated proletarians. Education has become a special trade under our present system. The measure of knowledge has increased greatly and grows daily. Capitalist society and the capitalist state are increasingly in need of men … Continue reading Karl Kautsky on the educated proletariat
Two Glasses by Ibn al-Tilmidh
Through my life I have gone with two glasses, And depended on them at all passes; The one glass was filled up with ink, The other was filled with wine pink: By the one, my wisdom I proved; By the other, my heart’s pains I subdued. Ibn al-Tilmidh (1074-1165) was a Christian Arab physician and … Continue reading Two Glasses by Ibn al-Tilmidh
The rhetorician and the dialectician distinguished
"The business of the rhetorician is to plant and establish some given point of persuasion, whether as to a general resolution or a particular fact, in the bosoms of certain auditors before him: hence he gives prominence and emphasis to some views of the question, suppressing or discrediting others, and especially keeping out of sight … Continue reading The rhetorician and the dialectician distinguished
Cicero on decorum
"The thrust and nature of the soul of man have two aspects. The first lies in the appetite ... which pulls a man in different directions; and the second is in the reason, which teaches and expounds what we are to do, and what to avoid. Accordingly the reason commands, and the appetite obeys. Our … Continue reading Cicero on decorum
The Rev. Sydney Smith on English boarding schools
From the article "Public Schools", Edinburgh Review 1810. "At a public school (for such is the system established by immemorial custom), every boy is alternately tyrant and slave. The power which the elder part of these communities exercises over the younger, is exceedingly great—very difficult to be controlled—and accompanied, not unfrequently, with cruelty and caprice. … Continue reading The Rev. Sydney Smith on English boarding schools
John Locke: how to think
From Locke's Of the Conduct of the Understanding (published 1706). “11. Indifferency.— First, he must not be in love with any opinion, or wish it to be true till he knows it to be so; and then he will not need to wish it; for nothing that is false can deserve our good wishes, nor … Continue reading John Locke: how to think
Notes in the Margins of the Days 