Without the Loss of a Syllable or Letter

"We see then how far the monuments of wit and learning are more durable than the monuments of power, or of the hands. For have not the verses of Homer continued twenty-five hundred years, or more, without the loss of a syllable or letter; during which time infinite palaces, time, temples, castles, cities have been decayed and demolished?~ Francis Bacon (1561 - 1626) English statesman, author, scientist.
"Books are the legacies that a great genius leaves to mankind, which are delivered down from generation to generation, as presents to the posterity of those who are yet unborn."
~ Joseph Addison (1672 - 1719) English essayist, poet.

"When others fail him, the wise man looks to the sure companionship of books." ~ Andrew Lang (1844 - 1912) Scottish writer ~ famous for the "coloured" fairy books.

Quotations from Lines to Live By, Edited by Clinton T. Howell, Thomas Nelson Publishers 1972.

"Everyone who knows how to read has it in their power to magnify themselves, to multiply the ways in which they exist, to make their life full, significant and interesting." ~ Aldous Huxley

(Huxley d. Nov. 22, 1963, at the age of 69. English Writer (Brave New World)

"The whole history of the world is summed up in the fact that, when nations are strong, they are not always just, and when they wish to be just, they are no longer strong."

Sir Winston Churchill (1874 - 1965) Statesman and Prime Minister, Britain.

"At the going down of the sun... We will remember them."

Sunset on Lake Erie, Ontario. (For larger image, click on photo.)

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old;
Age shall not weary them nor the years condemn;
At the going down of the sun, and in the morning,
We will remember them.

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place, and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and Were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe,
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch, be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

John McCrae

The First World War

"Spurred on by the realization of their hazard, the men worked with speed and precision. Not a shot was fired, nor a shell exploded. All was still until the last stake was screwed in and the last strand of wire tied; then it happened ~ a salvo of bursting rockets a myriad of coloured flares, a tornado of gas shells, lead and iron. One hundred yards to the trenches. Time, ten seconds flat at least so Jones has often told. Be that as it may, not a man was scratched in the spirited dash to cover, which shattered all records for personal achievement. The Brigade Wirers had no rifles and only a handful of bombs, so when ordered to get the hell out of the way by an officer of the front line company, the command was smartly obeyed. The retirement was orderly until Private Saunders essayed to pray beneath the shelter of a bit of corrugated iron stretched across the top of the communication trench through which the party was moving. Those in the rear thought this quite the wrong time and place for devotions, as they were still under heavy fire, and Saunders in his kneeling position cut off their line of retreat. Under the circumstances, it is not surprising that he was kicked into a position of even more humility."

Excerpt from The Canadian Military Gazette, Vol. LVI, No. 3, March 1941. Major A. R. Thompson penned the name "Jones" to relate his personal experiences in a series that ran in the Gazette.

Photos: Cayuga Courtyard, lbwalker (For larger image, click on photo.)