Homer tells us: “He shall have dread hereafter when some god shall come against him in battle; for hard are the gods to look upon when they appear in manifest presence.” (Iliad XX.130—131).
Continue reading
The advent of extreme circumstances either activates the latent abilities of the brave man, or smothers the spirit of the timid soul. Of the many historical examples that verify this, we will discuss one that is unlikely to be familiar to most readers.
Continue reading
The words and syntax of a speaker are as revelatory of identity as a fingerprint, a ballistics test, and a DNA sample are to a criminologist. The critical inquiries of the scholar, or the practiced eye of the native speaker, will as readily deduce the origin of a written text from an examination of its lexicon and constructions, as might a forensics scientist derive a wealth of information from a study of a fragment of bone, a scrap of tissue, or a tuft of hair. While this truth has not often been appreciated, it remains one that has been consistently demonstrated. We will discuss three examples that illustrate our proposition.
Continue reading
It is an unhappy commentary on the state of societal affairs when a scholar is compelled to remind readers of civilization’s benefits. Have things become so bad that we need to lay out arguments in favor of order, discipline, and our cultural patrimony? Is what was believed to be self-evident for centuries, now not self-evident at all? Are there really people who believe that a crass descent into barbarism and anarchy are preferable? The unsettling answer to these three questions is, unfortunately, yes. And this is the starting point of Michael R. J. Bonner’s stimulating and wonderfully researched new book, Defense of Civilization. The book is not currently available, but will be released soon.
Continue reading
We should periodically “revisit” things that once meant something to us years earlier. Every 7 to 10 years or so, we grow significantly in outlook, perspective, and attitude. Things that once meant something to us, may mean something very different to us years later. This holds true of books, movies, individuals, and many other things. To measure how far you’ve progressed, revisit old things, and see how much you’ve changed. I discuss two movies, and how my view of them has changed in the intervening decades.
Continue reading
So much has been written on the subject of self-confidence that a few more observations are unlikely to draw an objection. It seems to me that self-confidence rests on four pillars: (1) one must accurately and honestly assess one’s value; (2) self-confidence should never veer into the territory of arrogance or insolence; (3) self-confidence must be buttressed by demonstrated experience; and (4) while all can improve in self-confidence, it is essentially a character trait that comes easier to some than to others.
Continue reading
Some guys think that they need to wait for some magical confluence of circumstances to exist before they can pursue their goals. The world doesn’t work like this. Sometimes you have to announce yourself, declare your purpose openly, and let your will shape the environment to your own purposes. You have to declare yourself. You’re never going to receive anyone’s permission to succeed. We use the example of Gen. Charles De Gaulle in 1940.
Continue reading
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.
Continue reading
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 usage has given “conscience” the meaning of an internal conviction, a mental recognition of something.
Continue reading
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.
Continue reading
Quintus Curtius 
You must be logged in to post a comment.