1

Strong Speech

By Ralph Waldo Emerson

Ralph Waldo Emerson traced a common thread running throughout English literature.

2

Proverbs of the Northmen

From Eddic (Norse) Poetry

Among the oldest surviving fragments of Norse poetry are some lines of rugged common sense which any age would do well to heed.

3

The Gods of the Copybook Headings

By Rudyard Kipling

After the devastation of the Great War, calls rose for a new economic and social system, and to put the wisdom of our forebears behind us.

4

‘To Thine Own Self Be True’

By William Shakespeare

Standing on the dockside with Laertes, who is eager to board ship for Paris, Polonius takes a moment to share some fatherly wisdom.

5

The Letter of the Law

By A. G. Gardiner

After witnessing a bus conductor’s battle of wills with the London public, journalist Alfred Gardiner felt obliged to give him a little advice.

6

‘Never Trust Experts’

By Robert Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury

Lord Salisbury seeks to calm the Viceroy of India’s nerves in the face of anti-Russian hysteria.