Better to Wait

Better to Wait

“…yet he would not do amiss to wait and be ruled by time, the wisest counselor of all.” Pericles, in Plutarch’s Lives Yesterday morning in class a student looked out the window at the trees beginning to bud and said, “The trees look so sad; I just wish they’d hurry up...
Clean Eyes

Clean Eyes

“Again, one time Sophocles, who was Pericles’ fellow-commissioner in the generalship, was going on board with him, and praised the beauty of a youth they met with on the way to the ship. ‘Sophocles,’ said he, ‘a general ought not only to have clean hands but also...
No Unsuitable Word

No Unsuitable Word

“The truth, however, is, that Pericles himself was very careful what and how he was to speak, insomuch that, whenever he went up to the hustings, he prayed the gods that no one word might unawares slip from him unsuitable to the matter and the occasion.” Plutarch’s...
Trying to Be Like Them

Trying to Be Like Them

“It is for you to try to be like them.” Pericles’ Funeral Oration I have to admit a problem that I’ve had with Memorial Day. I’ve often let my thoughts move too easily to the fact that some fallen warriors are not the best examples of what we want to remember. I’ve...
A Beauty that Drives Care Away

A Beauty that Drives Care Away

“…in our own homes we find a beauty and a good taste which delight us every day and which drive away our cares.” Pericles to the Athenians, as reported by Thucydides Where do we find beauty? The natural world and works of great art are obvious instances. Yet most of...

Pin It on Pinterest