Guy de Maupassant, French writer, one of the fathers of the modern short story, was born on 5 August 1850 and died in 1893. “Patriotism is a kind of religion; it is the egg from which wars are hatched.”“Any government has as much of a duty to avoid war as a ship’s captain has to… Read More Maupassant
The poem “The Flower That Smiles Today”, first published in 1824, two years after Percy Bysshe Shelley‘s tragic death, is sometimes called ‘Mutability’ , although in 1816 Shelley wrote another poem of the same title, which appeared in the collection “Alastor, or The Spirit of Solitude: And Other Poems”. Eight of its lines were quoted… Read More Shelley: “Mutability”/2
Percy Bysshe Shelley, who died by drowning on 8 July 1822 (aged 29) in Gulf of La Spezia, (now Italy) – see here – wrote the poem “Music, When Soft Voices Die” the year before his death.This short poem , or rather, this poetic fragment, since we do not know if the poet intended to… Read More Shelley: “Music”
Dorothy Parker, one of the most famous American poets of the twentieth century, was known for her caustic wit and a s keen analysis of the urban follies of the century.Dismissive of her own talents, she deplored her reputation as a “wisecracker.”In a 1956 interview she said: “There’s a hell of a distance between wise-cracking… Read More Dorothy Parker on Women
“The wing structure of the hornet, in relation to its weight, is not suitable for flight, but it does not know this and flies anyway.” (Albert Einstein) The mental structure of some people is not suitable for producing intelligent thoughts, but they do not know this and speak anyway. “La struttura alare del calabrone, in… Read More Hornets 🐝
“A great many people think they are thinking when they are merely rearranging their prejudices.”~ William James ~ American philosopher, and psychologist 1842-1910 “Education is a good thing generally, but most folks educate their prejudices.”~ Josh Billings ~ American humourist “Prejudice assumes the garb of reason, but the cheat is too thin.”~ Josh Billings ~… Read More Prejudices
William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and engraver. Largely unrecognised during his lifetime, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of the poetry and visual arts of the Romantic Age. In the prose work “The Marriage of Heaven and Hell” (1790-93), which is one… Read More “The Proverbs of Hell” (W. Blake)
But words are things, and a small drop of ink, Falling, like dew, upon a thought, produces That which makes thousands, perhaps millions, think. – Lord Byron – Ma le parole sono cose, e una piccola goccia di inchiostro che cade, come rugiada, su di un pensiero produce ciò che fa pensare migliaia forse… Read More LORD BYRON (22 January 1788 – 1824)
words and music and stories 