Cicero, Marcus Tullius -- De Officiis [On Duties; On Moral Duty; The...
But the best inheritance that fathers can give their children, more precious than any patrimony however large, is a reputation for virtue and for worthy deeds, which if the child disgraces, his conduct...
View ArticleCommager, Henry Steele -- “Conversations with Historians,” interview by John...
We should not be surprised that the Founding Fathers didn’t foresee everything, when we see that the current Fathers hardly ever foresee anything. Henry Steele Commager (1902-1998) American historian,...
View ArticleMaimonides -- Guide for the Perplexed, Part 3, Introduction (c. 1190) [tr....
If I had omitted setting down something of that which has appeared to me as clear, so that the knowledge would perish when I perish, as is inevitable, I should have considered that conduct as extremely...
View ArticleDante Alighieri -- The Divine Comedy [Divina Commedia], Book 1 “Inferno,”...
Consider what you came from: you are Greeks! You were not born to live like mindless brutes but to follow paths of excellence and knowledge. [Considerate la vostra semenza: fatti non foste a viver come...
View ArticleEuripides -- Bellerophon [Βελλεροφῶν], frag. 303 (c. 430 BC) [tr. Wodhull...
The prosperous fortunes, and the haughty wealth Of an unrighteous man, we never ought To deem establish’d on a solid base, Or that the children of th’ unjust can prosper: For Time, who from no Father...
View ArticleBorges, Jorge Luis -- Quoted in “The Talk of the Town” column, The New Yorker...
When writers die they become books, which is, after all, not too bad an incarnation. Jorge Luis Borges (1899-1986) Argentine writerQuoted in “The Talk of the Town” column, The New Yorker (1986-07-07)...
View ArticleGay, John -- “The Pack-Horse and Carrier (To a young Nobleman),” ll. 41-42
Whence had you this illustrious name? From virtue and unblemish’d fame. By birth the name alone descends; Your honour on yourself depends: Think not your coronet can hide Assuming ignorance and pride....
View ArticleVirgil -- Eclogues [Eclogae, Bucolics, Pastorals], No. 9 “Lycidas and...
Graft your pears, Daphnis, now; your children’s children will enjoy the fruit. [Insere, Daphni, piros: carpent tua poma nepotes.] Virgil (70-19 BC) Roman poet [b. Publius Vergilius Maro; also...
View ArticleDon Juan, Canto 3, st. 86a “The Isles of Greece,” st. 1 (1821)
The Isles of Greece, the Isles of Greece! Where burning Sappho loved and sung, Where grew the arts of war and peace, Where Delos rose, and Phoebus sprung! Eternal summer gilds them yet, But all, except...
View ArticleBierce, Ambrose -- “Genealogy,” The Cynic’s Word Book (1906)
GENEALOGY, n. An account of one’s descent from an ancestor who did not particularly care to trace his own. Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914?) American writer and journalist“Genealogy,” The Cynic’s Word Book...
View Article