Word to the Wise

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. was born on August 29th 1809. Among his many talents were those of physician, poet, professor, lecturer, and author. Here we concentrate on his writing. He was regarded by...

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. was born on August 29th 1809. Among his many talents were those of physician, poet, professor, lecturer, and author. Here we concentrate on his writing. He was regarded by...

The Duchess of Padua is a play by the world famous wit Oscar Wilde. A five-act melodramatic tragedy set in Padua and written in blank verse. It was written for the actress Mary Anderson in early 1883...

Percy Bysshe Shelley is more widely known as one of the great Romantic Poets. Yet in his short life he was active politically but also as an essayist where his thoughts and ideas were fresh and...

Ralph Waldo Emerson was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on May 25, 1803. Although most widely known as an outstanding poet he was also an essayist and lecturer. A leader of the Transcendentalist...

Robert Southey was born on the 12th of August 1774 in Bristol. A poet of the Romantic school and one of the "Lake Poets". Although his fame has been eclipsed by that of his friends William Wordsworth...

"Never look backwards or you'll fall down the stairs."Bridge Builders (1893) by the British writer Rudyard Kipling is an Indian story about the building of the "Kashi Bridge." The story mainly...

"Every one wanted to say so much that no one said anything in particular."Captains Courageous is the story of Harvey Cheyne, the spoiled son of a very wealthy family. His adventures start when he...

"There is no sin so great as ignorance. Remember this."Kim (1901) is a novel by Rudyard Kipling, a Nobel-Prize winning English writer who was born in India and whose novels often deal with Indian...

Rudyard Kipling's book is a collection of forty short stories set in British India most of which being initially published in the "Lahore Civil and Military Gazette." In addition to the diverse plots...

"One may fall but he falls by himself - Falls by himself with himself to blame."Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) is an important English author and poet and the first Englishman to receive the Nobel Prize...

"Sensible people get the greater part of their dying done during their own lifetime." Samuel Butler (4th December 1835 - 18th June 1902) had both a father and grandfather in the church and was being...

Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet, FRSE, was a Scottish playwright, novelist and poet who became the first English-language author to be internationally celebrated within their own lifetime. Although he...

Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet, FRSE, was a Scottish playwright, novelist and poet who became the first English-language author to be internationally celebrated within their own lifetime. Although he...

Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet, FRSE, was a Scottish playwright, novelist and poet who became the first English-language author to be internationally celebrated within their own lifetime. Although he...

Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet, FRSE, was a Scottish playwright, novelist and poet who became the first English-language author to be internationally celebrated within their own lifetime. Although he...

Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet, FRSE, was a Scottish playwright, novelist and poet who became the first English-language author to be internationally celebrated within their own lifetime. Although he...

Twelve Years A Slave is subtitled Narrative of Solomon Northup, citizen of New York, kidnapped in Washington city in 1841, and rescued in 1853 from a cotton plantation near the Red River in Louisiana...

Marie-Henri Beyle was born on January 23rd 1783 in Grenoble, Isere. He is known to us all by his pen name; Stendahl. He spent much of his childhood in an unhappy state, mourning his beloved mother...

Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet, FRSE, was a Scottish playwright, novelist and poet who became the first English-language author to be internationally celebrated within their own lifetime. Although he...

Anthony Trollope was one the major English novelists and writers of the Victorian Age. He was also among the most prolific ones, having published forty-seven novels in addition to a number of short...

The story of Elizabeth Gaskell's novella The Moorland Cottage takes place in a modest cottage near the town of Combehurst where Mrs. Browne lives with her two children, Edward and Maggie, along with...

"Fear is the mother of foresight."Thomas Hardy (2nd June 1840 - 11th January 1928), celebrated poet and writer, was born in a modest thatched cottage near Dorchester in the West country, to a builder...

"The beautiful things of the earth become more dear as they elude pursuit."Thomas Hardy (2nd June 1840 - 11th January 1928), celebrated poet and writer, was born in a modest thatched cottage near...

"Every successful man is more or less a selfish man."Thomas Hardy (2nd June 1840 - 11th January 1928), celebrated poet and writer, was born in a modest thatched cottage near Dorchester in the West...

"Why is it that a woman can see from a distance what a man cannot see close?"Thomas Hardy (2nd June 1840 - 11th January 1928), celebrated poet and writer, was born in a modest thatched cottage near...

"Some folks want their luck buttered."Thomas Hardy (2nd June 1840 - 11th January 1928), celebrated poet and writer, was born in a modest thatched cottage near Dorchester in the West country, to a...

Romantic Adventures of a Milkmaid (1883) is a long short story by Thomas Hardy. It follows the life of Margery, a lower-class woman who is young, delicate and beautiful. She is engaged to James...

"A man's silence is wonderful to listen to."Thomas Hardy (2nd June 1840 - 11th January 1928), celebrated poet and writer, was born in a modest thatched cottage near Dorchester in the West country, to...

"The main object of religion is not to get a man into heaven, but to get heaven into him."Thomas Hardy (2nd June 1840 - 11th January 1928), celebrated poet and writer, was born in a modest thatched...