“On Fairy-stories”
J. R. R. Tolkien 1938 (The realm of Faërie is no frivolity, but a place of profound enchantment, offering glimpses into deep mysteries and addressing fundamental human desires.) “Lies, though breathed through silver”. It was September 1931. Little could J. R. R. Tolkien have guessed that this insult of myth, from the mouth of his […]
“On Taste”
Edmund Burke 1759 (What does it really mean for an opinion to be “a matter of taste”?) When we say “it’s just a matter of taste”, a bold and negative message lies behind the word “just”. Whether intended or not, the word creates a whiff of denigration. We discredit the thing we’re describing, reducing it […]
Pliny’s Letters
Pliny the Younger 97-109 AD (A wealthy lawyer reveals his personality and attitudes, and the way of life in Imperial Rome.) Many of us are acquainted with, or at least aware of, a certain species of lawyer, politician, or businessman. At first we notice the more grating aspects of his personality. He is near the top […]
Passages from the American Notebooks
Nathaniel Hawthorne 1835-1853 (The exercise of a young author’s pen creates images of the New England landscape and its people.) Mrs. Sophia Hawthorne, after the death of her husband in 1864, respected his wish that no biography be written of him. However, in lieu of this, she released to an eager public three successive volleys […]
Apology of Socrates
October 3, 2014 / Leave a comment
(Απολογια Σωκρατους) Plato 4th century BC (An innocent man delivers an inspiring speech to the court before he is executed.) Socrates is a bit of a mystery, if you insist on being a real evidentiary hardliner. He wrote nothing himself, so we have to rely on others’ characterizations of him. Xenophon paints him as the […]
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