Short passages for reading, drawn from history, legend, poetry and fiction.
© Chemical Engineer, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0.
The man who seems frustratingly dull and awkward may shine in other company, and we owe it to him and to ourselves to read the signs.
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© Maxwell Hamilton, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0 Generic.
If officials in the Raj ever forgot who their boss was, they would bring the whole government down about their ears.
Photo by Wolfgang Rieger. From Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.
A man begs the mighty Heracles to save him the effort of despatching a flea.
© Alexey Komarov, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0.
A scrawny wolf listens enviously as a well-fed dog describes the comforts of home, but a flat patch of fur on the dog’s neck worries him.
By John Constable (1776–1837), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.
Heracles refuses to come to the aid of man who is perfectly able to help himself.
By John Trumbull (1756–1843), Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.
John Adams, the second President of the USA, told army officers in Massachusetts that the Constitution he had helped to draw up could not guarantee them liberty.