Monthly Archives: May 2008

Paradise Lost II

Notes from my reading of Book II: 1. Again the passage that most struck me was a classicizing bit, a simile describing Satan’s journey through Chaos (943-50): As when a Gryfon through the Wilderness With winged course ore Hill or … Continue reading

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Paradise Lost I

I started a new job two months ago, and now teach part-time at two different high schools. Oddly, I seem to have more spare time for reading now, partly because I have to get to work at the new school … Continue reading

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Quotation of the Day

Topsius, a fictional German professor of Biblical archaeology who drinks beer with his breakfast: Socrates é a semente; Platão a flôr; Aristoteles o fructo . . . E d’esta arvore, assim completa, se tem nutrido o espirito humano! (Eça de … Continue reading

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What About Copies of Copies?

Les seules bonnes copies sont celles qui nous font voir le ridicule des méchants originaux. The only good copies are those which show up the absurdity of bad originals. (La Rochefoucauld, Maximes 133, translated by Leonard Tancock)

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Most, Not All

La plupart des jeunes gens croient être naturels, lorsqu’ils ne sont que mal polis et grossiers. Most young people think they are being natural when really they are just ill-mannered and crude. (La Rochefoucauld, Maximes 372, translated by Leonard Tancock)

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