QUOTATION: Andrew Lang

A book is a friend whose face is constantly changing. If you read it when you are recovering from an illness, and return to it years after, it is changed surely, with the change in yourself.

Andrew Lang (1844-1912) Discuss

Related articles

• The Art of the Insult
• When Insults had class:
• The “Coloured” Fairy Books
• Ballade Of The Bookworm

ARTICLE: NOBLESSE OBLIGE

Noblesse Oblige

The French phrase noblesse oblige means “nobility obliges” and implies that with wealth, power, and prestige come responsibilities. The phrase has been more broadly used to describe the motivation of those who help the less fortunate. The concept has been referenced by diverse authors through the centuries, including Homer, Honoré de Balzac, and William Faulkner, and has even been cited in modern legal writings. What Disney movie directly references noblesse oblige in one of its songs? More… Discuss

 

Today’s Birthday: SHERWOOD ANDERSON (1876)

Sherwood Anderson (1876)

After serving briefly in the Spanish-American War, Anderson became a successful advertising man and then manager of a paint factory before suffering a nervous breakdown. Dissatisfied with his life, he abandoned both his family and his job to devote himself to writing. His best-known work is the short story collection Winesburg, Ohio, and his prose style, based on everyday speech, influenced writers Ernest Hemingway and William Faulkner. He died after accidentally swallowing what object? More… Discuss