Quick Excerpts, from a Library of 492 Titles

Generated 2022-07-28 13:26:34

Excerpt #1, from Manual of Egyptian Archaeology and Guide to the Study of Antiquities in Egypt

…temples is in such wise devised as to lead gradually from the full sunshine of the outer world to the obscurity of their retreats. At the entrance we find large open spaces, where air and light stream freely in. The hypostyle hall is pervaded by a sober twilight; the sanctuary is more than half lost in a vague darkness; and at the end of the building, in the farthest of the chambers, night all but reigns completely. The effect of distance which was produced by this gradual diminution of light, was still further heightened by various structural artifices. The parts, for instance, are not on the same level. The ground rises from the entrance (fig. 80), and there are always a few steps to mount in passing from one part to another. In the temple of Khonsû the difference of level is not more than 5-1/4 feet, but it is combined with a lowering of the roof, which in most cases is very strongly marked. From the pylon to the wall at the farther end, the height decreases continuously. The peristyle is loftier than the hypostyle hall, and the hypostyle hall is loftier than the sanctuary. The last hall of columns and the farthest chamber are lower and lower still. The architects of Ptolemaic times changed certain details of arrangement. They erected chapels and oratories on the terraced roofs, and reserved space for the construction of secret passages and crypts in the thickness of the walls, wherein to hide the treasure of the god (fig. 81). They, however, introduced only two important modifications of the original plan. The…

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Excerpt #2, from Arcadian Adventures with the Idle Rich, by Stephen Leacock

…noticed them, and the Doctor assured him that Strabo had indubitably mentioned them (he would show the Duke the very passage), and that they apparently lay, if his memory served him, about halfway between Oohat and Ohat; whether above Oohat and below Ohat or above Ohat and below Oohat he would not care to say for a certainty; for that the Duke must wait till the president had time to consult his library. And the Duke was fascinated forthwith with the president’s knowledge of Nigerian geography, and explained that he had once actually descended from below Timbuctoo to Oohat in a doolie manned only by four swats. So presently, having drunk the cocktails, the party moved solemnly in a body from the alcove towards the private dining-room upstairs, still busily talking of the Bimbaweh remains, and the swats, and whether the doolie was, or was not, the original goatskin boat of the book of Genesis. And when they entered the private dining-room with its snow-white table and cut glass and flowers (as arranged by a retreating philosopher now heading towards the Gaiety Theatre with his hat over his eyes), the Duke again exclaimed, “Really, you have a most comfortable club–delightful.” So they sat down to dinner, over which Mr. Furlong offered up a grace as short as any that are known even to the Anglican clergy. And the…

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Excerpt #3, from Right Ho, Jeeves, by P. G. Wodehouse

…“But he’s betrothed.” “No longer, sir. Miss Bassett has severed the engagement.” “You don’t mean that?” “Yes, sir.” I wonder if you have noticed a rather peculiar thing about this chronicle. I allude to the fact that at one time or another practically everybody playing a part in it has had occasion to bury his or her face in his or her hands. I have participated in some pretty glutinous affairs in my time, but I think that never before or since have I been mixed up with such a solid body of brow clutchers. Uncle Tom did it, if you remember. So did Gussie. So did Tuppy. So, probably, though I have no data, did Anatole, and I wouldn’t put it past the Bassett. And Aunt Dahlia, I have no doubt, would have done it, too, but for the risk of disarranging the carefully fixed coiffure. Well, what I am trying to say is that at this juncture I did it myself. Up went the hands and down went the head, and in another jiffy I was clutching as energetically as the best of them. And it was while I was still massaging the coconut and wondering what the next move was that something barged up against the door like the delivery of a ton of coals. “I think this may very possibly be Mr. Fink-Nottle himself, sir,” said…

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Excerpt #4, from The Sea

…ARKADINA. Of course I have some money, but I am an actress and my expenses for dress alone are enough to bankrupt me. SORIN. You are a dear, and I am very fond of you, indeed I am. But something is the matter with me again. [He staggers] I feel giddy. [He leans against the table] I feel faint, and all. ARKADINA. [Frightened ] Peter! [She tries to support him] Peter! dearest! [She calls] Help! Help! TREPLIEFF and MEDVIEDENKO come in; TREPLIEFF has a bandage around his head. ARKADINA. He is fainting! SORIN. I am all right. [He smiles and drinks some water] It is all over now. TREPLIEFF. [To his mother] Don’t be frightened, mother, these attacks are not dangerous; my uncle often has them now. [To his uncle] You must go and lie down, Uncle. SORIN. Yes, I think I shall, for a few minutes. I am going to Moscow all the same, but I shall lie down a bit before I start. [He goes out leaning on his cane.] MEDVIEDENKO. [Giving him his arm] Do you know this riddle? On four legs in the morning; on two legs at noon; and on three legs in the evening? SORIN. [Laughing] Yes, exactly, and on one’s back at night. Thank you, I…

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Excerpt #5, from Beyond Good and Evil, by Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

…experiences. He digests his events badly; he never gets “done” with them; and German depth is often only a difficult, hesitating “digestion.” And just as all chronic invalids, all dyspeptics like what is convenient, so the German loves “frankness” and “honesty”; it is so CONVENIENT to be frank and honest!–This confidingness, this complaisance, this showing-the-cards of German HONESTY, is probably the most dangerous and most successful disguise which the German is up to nowadays: it is his proper Mephistophelean art; with this he can “still achieve much”! The German lets himself go, and thereby gazes with faithful, blue, empty German eyes–and other countries immediately confound him with his dressing-gown!–I meant to say that, let “German depth” be what it will–among ourselves alone we perhaps take the liberty to laugh at it–we shall do well to continue henceforth to honour its appearance and good name, and not barter away too cheaply our old reputation as a people of depth for Prussian “smartness,” and Berlin wit and sand. It is wise for a people to pose, and LET itself be regarded, as profound, clumsy, good-natured, honest, and foolish: it might even be–profound to do so! Finally, we should do honour to our name–we are not called the “TIUSCHE VOLK” (deceptive people) for nothing…. 245. The “good old” time is past, it sang itself out in Mozart–how…

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Excerpt #6, from Remarks, by Bill Nye

…and then insisted on coming in to sob with him in the morning before he has swept the office floor. One time she came and sobbed on my shoulder. Her tears are of the warm, damp kind, and feel disagreeable as they roll down the neck of a comparative stranger, who never can be aught but a friend. She rested her bonnet on my bosom while she wept, and I then discovered that she has been in the habit of wearing this bonnet while cooking her buckwheat pancakes. I presume she keeps her bonnet on all the time, so that she may be ready to dash out and consult me at all times without delay. Still, she ought not to do it, for when she leans her head on the bosom of her counsel in order to consult him, he detects the odor of the early sausage and the fleeting pancake. You may bust such a bonnet and crush it if you will, But the scent of the pancake will cling round it still. As soon as I saw that her object was to lean up against me and not only convulse herself with sobs, but that she intended to jar me also with her great woe, I told her that I would have to request her to avaunt. I then, as she did not act upon my suggestion, avaunted her myself. I avaunted her into a chair with a sickening thud. [Illustration: A TENDER CASE.] She then burst forth in a torrent of vituperation. When the abnormal…

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Excerpt #7, from Seven Short Plays, by Lady Gregory

…as to strength, his muscles are as hard as that board (slaps barrel). Sergeant: Is he as bad as that? Man: He is then. Sergeant: Do you tell me so? Man: There was a poor man in our place, a sergeant from Ballyvaughan.—It was with a lump of stone he did it. Sergeant: I never heard of that. Man: And you wouldn’t, sergeant. It’s not everything that happens gets into the papers. And there was a policeman in plain clothes, too…. It is in Limerick he was…. It was after the time of the attack on the police barrack at Kilmallock…. Moonlight … just like this … waterside…. Nothing was known for certain. Sergeant: Do you say so? It’s a terrible county to belong to. Man: That’s so, indeed! You might be standing there, looking out that way, thinking you saw him coming up this side of the quay (points), and he might be coming up this other side (points), and he’d be on you before you knew where you were. Sergeant: It’s a whole troop of police they ought to put here to stop a man like that. Man: But if you’d like me to stop with you, I could be looking down…

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Excerpt #8, from Principles of politeness, and of knowing the world, by Chesterfield

…to be carefully guarded against. The vanity I mean, is that which, if given way to, stamps a man a coxcomb, a character he will find a difficulty to get rid of, perhaps as long as he lives. Now this vanity shews itself in a variety of shapes; one man shall pride himself in taking the lead in all conversations, and peremptorily deciding upon every subject; another, desirous of appearing successful among the women, shall insinuate the encouragement he has met with, the conquests he makes, and perhaps boasts of favours he never received; if he speaks truth, he is ungenerous; if false, he is a villain; but whether true or false, he defeats his own purposes, overthrows the reputation he wishes to erect, and draws upon himself contempt in the room of respect. Some men are vain enough to think they acquire consequence by alliance, or by an acquaintance with persons of distinguished character or abilities; hence they are eternally talking of their grand-father, Lord such-a-one; their kinsman, Sir William such-a-one; or their intimate friend, Dr. such-a-one, with whom perhaps, they are scarcely acquainted. If they are ever found out (and that they are sure to be one time or another) they become ridiculous and contemptible; but even admitting what they say to be true, what then? A man’s intrinsic merit does not rise from an ennobled alliance, or a reputable acquaintance. A rich man never borrows. When angling for praise, modesty is the surest bait. If we…

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Excerpt #9, from Japan: From the Japanese Government History, by Kan’ichi Asakawa

…hundred thousand. Nevertheless, the government was careful to avoid a return to the excesses of former days. The building of new temples was forbidden, the lands assigned for the support of those already in existence were rigidly defined, and the people were encouraged to study Chinese literature, so that the corruption which disfigured the Buddhist priesthood in earlier ages was, in great part, corrected. Even more important than the revival of Buddhist influence was the bearing of the Catholic extermination upon the almost total exclusion of foreign trade from the shores of Japan. The entry of all foreign ships, except those of China and Holland, into Japanese ports was peremptorily forbidden. Neither the Chinese nor the Dutch entertained any idea of religious propagandism, their sole purpose being commercial. The Dutch, indeed, having shown a disposition to assist Japan in every way, enjoyed great credit with the Edo government, as will be more fully set forth in the next chapter. At first no restrictions were imposed on the commercial transactions of the Chinese and the Dutch, but subsequently a limit was set to the amount of trade and to the number of ships engaged, and the prices at which imported articles must be offered for sale were also determined officially. These restrictions were suggested by the fact that the trade involved a heavy drain of the precious metals. Indeed, the quantity of gold and silver exported from Japan during the…

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Excerpt #10, from Thought Forms, by Annie Besant and C. W. Leadbeater

…prayer is seen producing forms like the fronds of a fern, another like rain pouring upwards, if the phrase may be permitted. A rippled oblong mass is projected by three persons thinking of their unity in affection. A young boy sorrowing over and caressing a dead bird is surrounded by a flood of curved interwoven threads of emotional disturbance. A strong vortex is formed by a feeling of deep sadness. Looking at this most interesting and suggestive series, it is clear that in these pictures that which is obtained is not the thought-image, but the effect caused in etheric matter by its vibrations, and it is necessary to clairvoyantly see the thought in order to understand the results produced. In fact, the illustrations are instructive for what they do not show directly, as well as for the images that appear. It may be useful to put before students, a little more plainly than has hitherto been done, some of the facts in nature which will render more intelligible the results at which Dr Baraduc is arriving. Necessarily imperfect these must be, a physical photographic camera and sensitive plates not being ideal instruments for astral research; but, as will be seen from the above, they are most interesting and valuable as forming a link between clairvoyant and physical scientific investigations. At the present time observers outside the Theosophical Society are concerning themselves with the fact that emotional changes show their…

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Excerpt #11, from Investigation of Communist activities in Seattle, Wash., Area, Hearings, Part 2

…convention, and it concerned a proposal for an initiative measure which became known as the production-for-use initiative. Many people, because of the Communist Party influence in the unemployed days, were quite concerned and alarmed over the problem of unemployment, insecurity, possible impoverishment, et cetera. All the consequences of economic dislocation. They had read many of the so-called utopian pieces of literature such as Bellamy’s Looking Backward and other documents of the kind. They had also read Mr. Upton Sinclair’s program in California. They were somewhat acquainted with the propaganda of the Soviet Union, to the effect that production-for-use was the solution to the problems of capitalist lack of planning. In other words, planned economy. Mr. VELDE. Mr. Dennett, you testified that you received the party line by courier, by runners from Rappaport. Do you have any idea how Rappaport received it from headquarters of the Communist Party? Mr. DENNETT. Yes. Sometimes he received it by telegraph. In this particular instance, about this Governor Olson, he received that by telegram. Mr. VELDE. Was there any secrecy involved, especially at that time? Mr. DENNETT. No; there was no secrecy in that communication. As a matter of fact, they took parallel measures to see that somebody in…

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Excerpt #12, from A history of Canada, 1763 to 1812, by Sir Charles Prestwood Lucas

…were made at Ticonderoga for forwarding supplies by Lake George. On the 23rd of July the advanced guard moved forward to Fort Anne: on the 25th the whole army had reached that point; on the 29th, the van arrived at Fort Edward, which the Americans had already evacuated, and on the 30th Burgoyne arrived at the same place. A large convoy of provisions sent by Lake George reached the head of that lake by the 29th, Fort George like Fort Edward having been abandoned by the enemy, who had carried off their stores. Thus the end of July found Burgoyne on the Hudson, well on his way to Albany; the main difficulties of the expedition seemed to be past; but as a matter of fact the most trying time was yet to come. His communications were insecure, for he could not spare men to guard them. His transport was inadequate, and so were his supplies. Delay in bringing up stores meant time to the Americans to recover their spirits and gather in his front: he had no tidings from Howe, and no sure knowledge of St. Leger’s progress. He only knew that at all hazards he was expected to make his way to Albany. [Sidenote: The beginning of misfortunes. Murder of Jane McCrae by the Indians.] While he halted at Fort Edward, two untoward incidents took place. The first was a brutal murder by Indians of a young white woman…

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