Short passages for reading, drawn from history, legend, poetry and fiction.
By Isaac Robert Cruikshank (1789–1856), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.
Ralph Waldo Emerson wondered why New Yorkers elected to Congress the kind of man they would turn out of their own homes.
Read
By Thomas Eakins (1844–1916), via Wikimedia Commons. Licene: Public domain.
When William Cobbett told his son James to be conscientious about his grammar lessons, he was drawing on hard-won experience.
United Kingdom Hydrographic Office, via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.
The study of history can distract us from pressing modern problems, but failing to study it is much worse.
© 57claudio, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0.
The English language is the most valuable part of our national heritage, and the patriotic citizen is careful to treat it with respect.
By Elliott and Fry, via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.
Sir George MacMunn traces Kipling’s masterly handling of English and of storytelling to reading the King James Bible aloud.
© Reda Kerbush, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0.
The diplomat’s task is to see the best in other peoples, not to scold them for their failings.