Short passages for reading, drawn from history, legend, poetry and fiction.
By Hieronymus Bosch (?1450-1516), Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.
Clever people have realised that it is easier to get people on your side by mockery than by persuasion.
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© Aleda12, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0.
John of Gaunt tries to persuade his son Henry that banishment from England isn’t such a bad thing, if you think about in the right way.
© Theodore Scott, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.
Silas Marner, the weaver, plans to take a comforting look at his savings while he eats his dinner.
By William Daniell (1769-1837), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.
William Wordsworth comes back from France and realises with a shock what his own country has become.
By Adolph Tidemand (1814–1876), Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.
Pip receives a visitor from among the criminal classes, but his condescending attempt to play the gentleman rebounds spectacularly.
© Hari K Patibanda, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.
A little anecdote about a schoolmaster who wasn’t as much of a Wackford Squeers as he appeared to be.