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Gold Mountain
The outline of the story that follows appeared in Edward R. Snow’s volume The Fury of the Seas, which was published in 1964. Snow relates that he first became aware of its details in 1934. His book is now long out of print, so it will be a pleasure for us to retell it here.
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The Stirrings Of Conscience
The etymologists tell us that the word conscience is derived from the Latin conscire, meaning to know well, or to have an intimate knowledge of something. This verb could be used in two contexts: conscire alii (to know something along with someone else), and conscire sibi (to know something with oneself only). Time and modern…
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Not As Bad As You Think, But Different From What You Think (Podcast)
Our minds often play tricks on us. We come to believe things are much worse than they really are. Once we get through what we’re worried about, we realize that things were not as bad as we thought–and we also realize that things ended in a way that was different from what we expected.
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A Consolation Inspired By Cicero: “How To Grieve”
For several years now, Michael Fontaine has dedicated himself to discovering and reanimating the buried treasures of late Latin literature. This is a mark of the true humanist: the ability to sift, patiently and deliberately, through the silt of literary time, and locate those true gems that have been consigned to undeserved neglect. In 2020…
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Roosevelt In Cuba
Theodore Roosevelt was going to Cuba when war with Spain broke out, and no power on earth was going to stop him. As Assistant Secretary of the Navy, he had fought, schemed, and maneuvered to get an officer’s commission, and he had prevailed.
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Ibn Gabirol Discusses The Virtues
If we accept the premise that personal sufferings and misfortunes provide excellent grist for philosophy’s mill, then we must concede that Solomon Ibn Gabirol was provided with incomparable ingredients for speculative thought. He was born to a prosperous family in Malaga, Spain around 1022. Yet life wasted no time in dealing him cruel cards; his…
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Secluded Bodies, Wandering Tongues
An edifying and unintentionally humorous story emerges from a letter written by St. Jerome in A.D. 405. It is epistle 117, which was addressed to a quarreling mother and daughter residing in Gaul (Ad matrem et filiam in Gallia commorantes).
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Pythagoras: An Introduction To His Life, School, And Ideas
Only one name in European history unites the realms of religion, mathematics, and philosophy, and that name is Pythagoras. Yet it is this very achievement that so torments posterity when assessing his legacy. Centuries of speculative accretions, hagiographic mythologizing, and the dubious testimonia of ancient authors have so obscured his original doctrines that the exasperated…
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The Unrelenting Fires Of Heraclitus
It was in Ionia that the Greek-speaking world of the sixth century B.C. jostled with the ancient kingdoms of Asia’s westernmost region. Phrygia, Lydia, Caria, and the other principalities of Asia Minor were Greece’s portal to the Asiatic interior. The empire of Persia, herself irrigated to fertility by various Asiatic streams, retained a power and…
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On The Gratitude Of Animals
The ancient Persians held ingratitude to be a very serious offense: for them it was a gateway, in fact, to all kinds of vices. Xenophon, in his Cyropaedia, describes the prevailing attitude in Persian society in this regard:
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The Discovery Of Andrea Palladio’s Lost Literary Masterpiece
Andrea Palladio is considered one of the most distinguished names in the history of architecture. His designs of villas, churches, theaters, and palaces have for centuries been held as exemplars of the High Renaissance genius for adapting classical styles and themes to modern purposes.
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The Object Of One’s Desire Is The Means Of One’s Capture
The Roman writer Aelian, in his treatise On the Nature of Animals (De Natura Animalium), collects many interesting facts related to the habits and behaviors of the creatures of the land, sea, and air. It is unfortunate that he felt compelled to write in Greek instead of Latin, but I suppose this is a decision…
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“You’re Supposed To Do Something About It” (Podcast)
At the end of the movie “The Maltese Falcon,” Sam Spade explains his personal code to Mary Astor. He tells her, “When your partner is killed, you’re supposed to do something about it. It doesn’t matter what you thought of him. You’re supposed to do something about it…” But there is a larger lesson here.…
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Petty Pride And True Usefulness
Few contrasts in character traits are as sharp as the difference between petty pride and true usefulness. The former elevates vanity as a virtue, while the latter represents the practical skills required for life’s unending challenges.
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The Best Reliance Is Self-Reliance
The Roman writer Aelian makes an interesting comment in his Varia Historia (II.39) about the education of Cretan youths in ancient times. He says that the children of citizens (presumably both boys and girls) would learn the laws of their island with musical accompaniment as an aid to memorization.
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Do Not Seek Immediate Utility In Everything
In his Politics, Aristotle spends a good deal of time discussing the education and training of the youth. One memorable passage contains the following thoughts:
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Ancient Greek Athleticism And The Idea Of Virtue
This morning my friend Dr. Michael Fontaine sent me an email that contained the following quote by the French Enlightenment thinker Bernard Le Bovier de Fontenelle. When Fontenelle, at the age of 85, met Rousseau in 1742, he counseled him, “You must courageously offer your brow to laurel wreaths, and your nose to blows.”
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The Declaration Of Independence (A Reading)
This podcast is a reading of the text of the Declaration of Independence, one of the keystone documents of the American Revolution.
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The Greatest Horror Films Ever Made
Why horror? What is it about this genre that exerts such a hold on our imagination? What psychological need is served by the human desire to be frightened or unnerved? Perhaps some residue of our prehistoric consciousness, in which our hominid ancestors were stalked by ancient predators on the African savannahs, demands to be recognized…
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Jean de La Bruyère’s Thoughts On Money, Wealth, And Fortune
The French essayist and philosopher Jean de La Bruyère achieved a degree of notoriety for his work Characters (Les Caractères ou les Mœurs de ce siècle), which he published in 1688. He died young, at the age of 50 in 1696; perhaps his pen might have produced more marvels had fortune provided him more longevity.
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What You Vote For, You Must Also Commit To
The Athenian statesman and general Phocion lived from about 402 to 318 B.C. He was famous for his frugal and unassuming personal habits; and he always put the interests of his country first, in stark opposition to his careerist, opportunistic contemporaries.
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Making Things Personal
I was walking today through some side-streets of Falmouth, Massachusetts and saw a lawn sign that caught my attention. The sign said, “Drive As If Your Kids Live Here.” What an effective message, I thought to myself. The writer is making a direct appeal to the reader, asking him to put himself in the shoes…
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The Betrayal Of Günther Müller
The following story is taken from John Koehler’s masterfully researched Stasi: The Untold Story of the East German Secret Police (1999). It is just one of countless tales of tragedy, suffering, and betrayal that took place in East Germany between the years 1945 and 1989. As the memory of communist oppression continues to recede in…
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General Jacob Bayley, Patriot And Man Of Character
General Jacob Bayley remains one of the most obscure figures of American Revolutionary War leadership. Yet in our present age of debilitated moral strength, feeble character, and flexuous purposes, the details of his life and deeds are both instructive and edifying.
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The Patriotic Wisdom Of General John Stark
One of the most impressive names in the annals of American Revolutionary War leadership is that of General John Stark of New Hampshire. Few of his peers equaled him in fighting prowess, tenacity, and strength of character; and while his name may be unfamiliar today, this is only because he was an apolitical animal who…
Original copy of Cicero’s De Officiis (On Duties) published in Holland in 1642. From the collection of Fortress of the Mind.
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