Perspectives on Ideas March 10, 2007

Character (Continued)
49 ...for you are really proud of your defects in writing, because you consider them as proceeding from a rapidity of thought and carelessness of execution, which if not estimable, you think at least highly interesting. Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice.

70 Mr. Collins was not a sensible man, and the deficiency of nature had been but little assisted by education or society. Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice.

371 Of Darcy: She remembered that he had yet to learn to be laughed at, and it was rather too early to begin. Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice.

287 [Kennedy had]...an outlook more practical than theoretical and more logical than ideological; an ability to be precise and concise; a willingness to learn...to change; and ability to work hard and long, creatively, imaginatively, successfully. Sorenson, Kennedy

305 And like the entire Kennedy Cabinet he was cool under pressure, more pragmatic than dogmatic.... Sorenson, Kennedy

424 When he was not working, he and Jacqueline liked having people around who were cheerful, amusing, energetic, informed and informal. Sorenson, Kennedy

846 If one extraordinary quality stood out among the many, it was the quality of continuing growth. Sorenson, Kennedy

852 [Kennedy] stood for excellence in an era of indifference—for hope in an era of doubt—for placing public service ahead of private interests—for reconciliation between East and West, black and white, labor and management. Sorenson, Kennedy

81 He did not mention that he was a lineal descendant of Balaam’s ass; but everybody knew that without his telling it. Twain, Innocents Abroad.

258 A conception of inward freedom that centers upon a refusal to accept esteem except from one upon whom one has conferred esteem, is a conception of the highest degree of irony. Bloom, Western Canon.

303 Blake says that we become what we behold, but Dickinson...says that which we are, that only can we see. Bloom, Western Canon.

35 Kreon: A sharp-tempered woman, or for that matter a man,/ Is easier to deal with than the clever type/ Who holds her tongue. Euripides, Medea.

41 Medea: O God, you have given to mortals a sure method/ Of telling the gold that is pure from the counterfeit;/ Why is there no mark engraved upon men’s bodies,/ By which we could know the true ones from the false ones. Euripides, Medea.

64 Messenger: And I do not fear to say that those who are held/ Wise amongst men and who search the reasons of things/ Are those who bring the most sorrow on themselves. Euripides, Medea.

65 Medea: O arm yourself in steel, my heart! Euripides, Medea.

781 However, like the rest of the world, I still go on underrating men of gold, and glorifying men of mica…. Twain, Roughing It

710 …whenever he [Capt. John] met a man, woman or child, in camp, inn or desert, he either knew such parties personally or had been acquainted with a relative of the same. Twain, Roughing It

854 …the thoughts of one whose dreams were all of the past, whose life was a failure; a tired man, burdened with the present, and indifferent to the future; a man without ties, hopes, interests, waiting for rest and the end. Twain, Roughing It

910 There was one person, a middle-aged man, with an absent look in his face, who simply glanced up, gave us good-day and lapsed again into the meditations which our coming had interrupted. Twain, Roughing It

438 He interested me because he was so quiet and solitary and so happy withal; a well of good humor and contentment. Thoreau, Walden.