A Posy of Pansies: Literature
A Posy of Pansies: Literature
And there is pansies, that's for thoughts.
William Shakespeare, Hamlet Prince of Denmark, Act IV, Scene V
Over the years I have gathered precious and provoking thoughts from both great authors and obscure wisemen. Please enjoy this 'posy of pansies' from the wealth of my little garden of collected thoughts. Today's thoughts are on the gift of literature.
The great standard of literature, as to purity and exactness of style, is the Bible. Blair
Let all writers have their due esteem, but compare none of them with the Word of God. We will not refuse their service, but we must abhor them as rivals or competitors. It is the sign of a distempered heart that loseth the relish of Scripture excellency. Richard Baxter
These are not books, lumps of lifeless paper, but minds alive on the shelves. From each of them goes out its own voice and just as the touch on our set will fill the room with music, so by taking down one of these volumes and opening it, one can call into range the voice of a man far distant in time and space, and hear him speaking to us, mind to mind, heart to heart. Gilbert Highet
It is chiefly through books that we enjoy intercourse with superior minds, and these invaluable means of communication are in the reach of all. In the best books great men talk to us, give us their most precious thoughts, and pour their souls into ours. God be thanked for books. They are the voices of the distant and the dead, and make us heirs of the spiritual life of past ages, Books are the true levelers. They give to all who will faithfully use them, the society, the spiritual presence of the best and greatest of our race. Channing
In my library I have profitably dwelt among the shining lights, with which the learned, wise, and holy men of all ages have illuminated the world. Richard Baxter
‘Tis the good reader that makes the good book; in every book he finds passages which seem confidences or asides hidden from all else and unmistakably for his ear; the profit of books is according to the sensibility of the reader; the profoundest thought or passion sleeps as in a mine, until it is discovered by an equal mind and heart. Ralph Waldo Emerson
Think as well as read.... Yield not your minds to the passive impressions which others may make upon them. Hear what they have to say; but examine it, weigh it, and judge for yourselves. This will enable you to make a right use of books - to use them as helpers, not as guides to your understanding; as counselors, not as dictators of what you are to think and believe. Tryon Edwards
The book to read is the not the one that thinks for you, but the one that makes you think. No book equals the Bible for that. James McCosh
To read without reflecting is like eating without digesting. Edmund Burke
Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested: that is, some books are to be read only in parts; others to be read, but not curiously; and some few to be read wholly, and with diligence and attention. Francis Bacon
Man builds no structure which outlives a book. Ware
Few mothers can overestimate the influence which the companionship of books exerts in youth upon the habits and tastes of their children, and no mother who has the welfare of her children at heart will neglect the important work of choosing the proper books for them to read, while they are under her care. She would select for them such as will both interest and instruct, and this should be done during the early years, before their minds should have imbibed the pernicious teachings of bad books and sensational novels. The poison imbibed from bad books works so secretly that their influence for evil is made greater than the influence of bad associates. The other has it in her power to make such books the companions and friends of her children as her good judgment may select, and to impress upon them their truths, by conversing with them about the moral lessons or intellectual instructions they contain. A taste may be easily cultivated for books on natural science and for history, as well as for those that teach important and wholesome lessons for the young. John Young
There are only two powers in the world,
the sword and the pen; and in the end
the former is always conquered by the latter.
Napoleon Bonaparte
The pansy has its name from the French word pensée, meaning thought. It was so named because the flower resembles a human face, and in August it nods forward as though deep in thought. "A Posy of Pansies" is a regular feature at Cabbages and Kings, and our next installment will be on smiles.
Text: A Posy of Pansies. This compilation © Handmaidens of the Shepherd, November 2007.
Photograph: Pansy. The copyright information for this image is unknown.
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STEPHANIE said...
I liked the one by Edmund Burke, “To read without reflecting is like eating without digesting.” Sometimes I just breeze through books without really pausing to “digest” them. But the books that I remember and love are the ones that I took time to think about.
Wednesday, November 28, 2007 11:27 AM
OLD TIMER said...
I like the comment by Francis Bacon. I also like the one by Ware. They are very interesting and true.
Friday, November 30, 2007 08:46 AM
Tuesday, November 27, 2007