Short passages for reading, drawn from history, legend, poetry and fiction.
© Bwierc, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 3.0.
Nothing seemed likely to stop Napoleon Bonaparte from conquering Europe, but one little fellow slowed him up a bit.
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© Robert Struthers, Geograph. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.
William Wordsworth looks back on a life of disappointments and regrets, and finds in them reasons to be thankful.
By Joseph Lange (1751–1831), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.
An amateur composer once asked Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart how he thought of his lovely music and — for one performance only — the maestro told him.
© Otwarte Klatki, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.
A pretty young milkmaid plans just a little bit too far ahead.
© Oast House Archive, Geograph. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.
Frédéric Bastiat made a tongue-in-cheek appeal to the French government, asking them to protect candlemakers from a cut-throat competitor.
© Evelyn Simak, Geograph. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.
Inspired by economists in Britain, Frédéric Bastiat explained to his own Government why their initiatives to boost the economy so often fail.