Literature

Sir Walter Scott: How should a hero be rewarded?

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January 5, 2012
A painting showing Ivanhoe at a Tournament

It is a dangerous and fatal doctrine to teach young persons that rectitude of conduct and of principle are either naturally allied with, or adequately rewarded by, the gratification of our passions.
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On the Banks of a Rocky Stream (Wordsworth)

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January 3, 2012
A stream under Pets Bridge near Ambleside, Cumbria. © Mick Garratt (Geograph). Licensed for reuse under a Creative Commons Licence.

The Holy Spirit comes to us even when we are impure. And if only He finds our intellect truly praying to Him, He enters it and puts to flight the whole array of thoughts and ideas circling within it.
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His name is deeply carved there (Herbert)

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January 2, 2012
confession12

And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, his name was called JESUS.
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‘There’s no one to touch Jane when you’re in a tight place’

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January 2, 2012
A view across the Estate belonging to Chatsworth House, Derbyshire. © Andrew Hill (Geograph). Licensed for reuse under a Creative Commons Licence.

Jane Austen became very popular amongst soldiers in the trenches because she took them back to a pleasant land, a good, a peaceful England of quiet gentle manners and drawing rooms.
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O God, grant me to resolve aright, and to keep my resolutions

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December 31, 2011
Samuel Johnson (1709-1784), by Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723-1792) (detail). From Wikimedia Commons.

“I have now spent fiftyfive years in resolving, having, from the earliest time almost that I can remember, been forming schemes of a better life. I have done nothing.”
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Anthony Trollope: Christmas in church needs a personal touch

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December 25, 2011
St Petroc's Church, South Brent, Devon. © Adrian Platt, Geograph. Used under licence. Click for original.

No one knows who does it. The peculiar munificence of the squire who has sacrificed his holly bushes is not appreciated. It has been done by contract, probably, and even if well done has none of the grace of association.
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