Quick Excerpts, from a Library of 492 Titles

Generated 2022-07-28 13:26:37

Excerpt #1, from The Essays of Arthur Schopenhauer; the Art of Controversy, by Arthur Schopenhauer

…If you had a dog and wanted to make him fond of you, and fancied that of your hundred rare and excellent characteristics the mongrel would be sure to perceive one, and that that would be sufficient to make him devoted to you body and soul–if, I say, you fancied that, you would be a fool. Pat him, give him something to eat; and for the rest, be what you please: he will not in the least care, but will be your faithful and devoted dog. Now, believe me, it is just the same with men–exactly the same. As Goethe says, man or dog, it is a miserable wretch: Denn ein erbärmlicher Schuft, so wie der Mensch, ist der hund. If you ask why these contemptible fellows are so lucky, it is just because, in themselves and for themselves and to themselves, they are nothing at all. The value which they possess is merely comparative; they exist only for others; they are never more than means; they are never an end and object in themselves; they are mere bait, set to catch others.[1] I do not admit that this rule is susceptible of any exception, that is to say, complete exceptions. There are, it is true, men–though they are sufficiently rare–who enjoy some subjective moments; nay, there are perhaps some who for every hundred subjective moments enjoy a few that are objective; but a higher state of perfection scarcely ever occurs. But do not take yourself for an…

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Excerpt #2, from Santa Fé’s Partner, by Thomas A. Janvier

…the town he made out he belonged to–and let it go at that. Big game was what he said he was looking for: and Santa Fé Charley, with Shorty Smith and others helping, saw to it he got all he wanted and some over–but I reckon the exercises would a-been less spirited if the Sage-Brush Hen hadn’t chipped in and played a full hand. He was one of the sporting kind, Boston was, that turned up frequent in the Territory in them days. Most of ’em was friends of officers at some of the posts, with a sprinkling throwed in of sons and nephews of directors of the road. Big game was what they all made out they come for; and they was apt to have about as much use for big game–when they happened to find any–as a cat has for two tails. But they seemed to enjoy letting off ca’tridges–and used to buy what skins was in the market to take home. Boston turned out to be a nephew–nephews was apt to be worse’n sons for stuck-upness–and he come in one morning in a private car hitched onto the Denver train. He had a colored man along to cook and clean his guns for him–he had more things to shoot with, and of more shapes and sizes, than you ever seen in one place outside of a gun-store–and he was dressed that nice in green corduroys, with new-fangled knives and hunting fixings hanging all over him like he was a Christmas-tree, he might have hired out for a show. He wasn’t a bad set-up young…

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Excerpt #3, from Trouble on Titan, by Henry Kuttner

…reel Udell sent in. It’s magnificent theater. The tragedy of the Zonals—one of the biggest epics the System ever saw. They used to be highly civilized at one time, historians think, but something wrecked their brains. “They’re decadent now, little better than animals. If I can film the rest of Sons of Titan, we’ll have something really big—Grass and Chang and Dust all rolled into one. If I can figure out how to make the Zonals act. “They acted for Udell—magnificently. They lived their roles. And that’s what’s so mysterious, Kathleen. The Zonals aren’t really smart enough to come in out of the rain.” “Could it have been faked?” the girl asked. “No,” Von Zorn said decisively. “No question of robots. Udell made ace actors out of—of sub-idiots. The question is how?” “Same way you did with that new crooner you’re starring, maybe,” Quade said rather sardonically. He was examining a slip of paper. “I picked this up in Udell’s ship—it’s a list of supplies he planned to get in Hollywood on the Moon. That’s probably why he came back from Titan—he ran out of some things he needed. Let’s see. Why did he want neo-curare?” “What’s that?” Von Zorn asked….

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Excerpt #4, from Recollections and impressions of James A. McNeill Whistler, by Arthur Jerome Eddy

…exhibition. “To have seen him, O, my wise Atlas, was my privilege and my misery,–for he stood under one of my own ‘harmonies,’ already with difficulty gasping its gentle breath, himself an amazing ‘arrangement’ in strong mustard-and-cress, with bird’s-eye belcher of Reckitt’s blue, and then and there destroyed absolutely, unintentionally, and once for all, my year’s work!” * * * * * The analogy between the musical scale and the color scale has been many times noted. Helmholtz[37] draws the following analogy: F ♯ End of the red. G Red. G ♯ Red. A Red. A ♯ Orange-red. B Orange. c Yellow. c ♯ Green. d Greenish-blue. d ♯ Cyanogen-blue. e Indigo-blue….

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Excerpt #5, from Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas: An Underwater Tour of the World, by Verne

…money. Where had this precious metal come from? How had the captain amassed this gold, and what was he about to do with it? I didn’t pronounce a word. I gaped. Captain Nemo took out the ingots one by one and arranged them methodically inside the chest, filling it to the top. At which point I estimate that it held more than 1,000 kilograms of gold, in other words, close to 5,000,000 francs. After securely fastening the chest, Captain Nemo wrote an address on its lid in characters that must have been modern Greek. This done, the captain pressed a button whose wiring was in communication with the crew’s quarters. Four men appeared and, not without difficulty, pushed the chest out of the lounge. Then I heard them hoist it up the iron companionway by means of pulleys. Just then Captain Nemo turned to me: “You were saying, professor?” he asked me. “I wasn’t saying a thing, captain.” “Then, sir, with your permission, I’ll bid you good evening.” And with that, Captain Nemo left the lounge. I reentered my stateroom, very puzzled, as you can imagine. I tried in vain to fall asleep. I kept searching for a relationship between the appearance of the diver and that chest filled with gold. Soon, from certain rolling and pitching movements, I sensed that the Nautilus had…

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Excerpt #6, from Peter Pan, by J. M. Barrie

…Grandly, however, did Tootles respond. For that one moment he dropped his silliness and spoke with dignity. “I am just Tootles,” he said, “and nobody minds me. But the first who does not behave to Wendy like an English gentleman I will blood him severely.” He drew back his hanger; and for that instant his sun was at noon. The others held back uneasily. Then Peter returned, and they saw at once that they would get no support from him. He would keep no girl in the Neverland against her will. “Wendy,” he said, striding up and down, “I have asked the redskins to guide you through the wood, as flying tires you so.” “Thank you, Peter.” “Then,” he continued, in the short sharp voice of one accustomed to be obeyed, “Tinker Bell will take you across the sea. Wake her, Nibs.” Nibs had to knock twice before he got an answer, though Tink had really been sitting up in bed listening for some time. “Who are you? How dare you? Go away,” she cried. “You are to get up, Tink,” Nibs called, “and take Wendy on a journey.” Of course Tink had been delighted to hear that Wendy was going; but she was jolly well determined not to be her courier, and she said so in still more offensive language. Then she pretended to be asleep again….

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Excerpt #7, from The Sea

…loud importance, thus drawing upon himself the eyes of the assembly, and sunning himself in the admiring looks bestowed upon one of the officers of Oliver-Reis, one of the rovers who were the pride of Islam and a sword-edge to the infidel. “They were born to toil nobly at the oar, O Ali-Reis,” replied the dalal in all solemnity. “What wilt thou give for them?” “Two hundred philips for the twain.” The dalal paced solemnly on, the slaves following in his wake. “Two hundred philips am I offered for a pair of the lustiest slaves that by the favour of Allah were ever brought into this market. Who will say fifty philips more?” A portly Moor in a flowing blue selham rose from his seat on the step of the well as the dalal came abreast of him, and the slaves scenting here a buyer, and preferring any service to that of the galleys with which they were threatened, came each in turn to kiss his hands and fawn upon him, for all the world like dogs. Calm and dignified he ran his hands over them feeling their muscles, and then forced back their lips and examined their teeth and mouths. “Two hundred and twenty for the twain,” he said, and the dalal passed on with his wares, announcing the increased price he had been offered. Thus he completed the circuit and came to stand once more before Ali….

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Excerpt #8, from Man and Superman: A Comedy and a Philosophy, by Bernard Shaw

…DON JUAN. In that case, what is virtue but the Trade Unionism of the married? Let us face the facts, dear Ana. The Life Force respects marriage only because marriage is a contrivance of its own to secure the greatest number of children and the closest care of them. For honor, chastity and all the rest of your moral figments it cares not a rap. Marriage is the most licentious of human institutions– ANA. Juan! THE STATUE. [protesting] Really!– DON JUAN. [determinedly] I say the most licentious of human institutions: that is the secret of its popularity. And a woman seeking a husband is the most unscrupulous of all the beasts of prey. The confusion of marriage with morality has done more to destroy the conscience of the human race than any other single error. Come, Ana! do not look shocked: you know better than any of us that marriage is a mantrap baited with simulated accomplishments and delusive idealizations. When your sainted mother, by dint of scoldings and punishments, forced you to learn how to play half a dozen pieces on the spinet which she hated as much as you did–had she any other purpose than to delude your suitors into the belief that your husband would have in his home an angel who would fill it with melody, or at least play him to sleep after dinner? You married my friend Ottavio: well, did you ever…

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Excerpt #9, from The Coral Island, by R. M. Ballantyne

…that he threatened her life. “Peterkin,” said Jack in a hoarse whisper, “have you got your knife?” “Yes,” replied Peterkin, whose face was pale as death. “That will do. Listen to me, and do my bidding quick.–Here is the small knife, Ralph. Fly, both of you, through the bush, cut the cords that bind the prisoners, and set them free! There! quick, ere it be too late!” Jack sprang up and seized a heavy but short bludgeon, while his strong frame trembled with emotion, and large drops rolled down his forehead. At this moment the man who had butchered the savage a few minutes before advanced towards the girl with his heavy club. Jack uttered a yell that rang like a death-shriek among the rocks. With one bound he leaped over a precipice full fifteen feet high, and before the savages had recovered from their surprise, was in the midst of them, while Peterkin and I dashed through the bushes towards the prisoners. With one blow of his staff Jack felled the man with the club; then turning round with a look of fury he rushed upon the big chief with the yellow hair. Had the blow which Jack aimed at his head taken effect, the huge savage would have needed no second stroke; but he was agile as a cat, and avoided it by springing to one side, while at the same time he swung his ponderous club at the head of his foe. It was now Jack’s turn to leap aside; and…

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Excerpt #10, from Wuthering Heights, by Emily Brontë

…or you’ll not keep him long; and he’s all you have akin in the wide world, that you will ever know—remember.” “I’ll be very kind to him, you needn’t fear,” he said, laughing. “Only nobody else must be kind to him: I’m jealous of monopolising his affection. And, to begin my kindness, Joseph, bring the lad some breakfast. Hareton, you infernal calf, begone to your work. Yes, Nell,” he added, when they had departed, “my son is prospective owner of your place, and I should not wish him to die till I was certain of being his successor. Besides, he’s mine, and I want the triumph of seeing my descendant fairly lord of their estates; my child hiring their children to till their fathers’ lands for wages. That is the sole consideration which can make me endure the whelp: I despise him for himself, and hate him for the memories he revives! But that consideration is sufficient: he’s as safe with me, and shall be tended as carefully as your master tends his own. I have a room upstairs, furnished for him in handsome style; I’ve engaged a tutor, also, to come three times a week, from twenty miles’ distance, to teach him what he pleases to learn. I’ve ordered Hareton to obey him: and in fact I’ve arranged everything with a view to preserve the superior and the gentleman in him, above his associates. I do regret, however, that he so little deserves the trouble: if I wished any blessing in the world, it was to find him a…

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Excerpt #11, from The Book of the Dead, by Sir E. A. Wallis Budge

…“O Usekh-nemmit, comer forth from Anu, I have not committed sin.”O Fenti, comer forth from Khemenu, I have not robbed. “O Neha-hau, comer forth from Re-stau, I have not killed men.”O Neba, comer forth in retreating, I have not plundered the property of God. “O Set-qesu, comer forth from Hensu, I have not lied.”O Uammti, comer forth from Khebt, I have not defiled any man’s wife. “O Maa-anuf, comer forth from Per-Menu, I have not defiled myself.”O Tem-Sep, comer forth from Tetu, I have not cursed the king. “O Nefer-Tem, comer forth from Het-ka-Ptah, I have not acted deceitfully; I have not committed wickedness.”O Nekhen, comer forth from Heqat, I have not turned a deaf ear to the words of the Law (or Truth)." The names of most of the Forty-Two gods are not ancient, but were invented by the priests probably about the same time as the names in the Book of Him that is in the Tuat and the Book of Gates, i.e., between the XIIth and the XVIIIth dynasties. Their artificial character is shown by their meanings. Thus Usekh-nemmit means “He of the long strides”; Fenti means “He of the Nose”; Neha-hau means “Stinking-members”; Set-qesu means “Breaker of bones,” etc. The early Egyptologists called the second part of the CXXVth Chapter the…

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Excerpt #12, from Desert Dust, by Edwin L. Sabin

…“Will you offer me a ride, sir?” My response was instant: a long “Whoa-oa!” in best mule-whacker. The eight-team hauled negligent, their mulish senses steeped in the drudgery of the trail; only the wheel pair flopped inquiring ears. When I hailed again, Jenks came puffing. “What’s the matter hyar?” He ran rapid eye over wagon and animals and saw nothing amiss. “Mrs. Montoyo wishes to ride.” “The hell, man!” He snatched whip and launched it, up the faltering team. The cracker popped an inch above the off lead mule’s cringing haunch twenty feet before. “You can’t stop hyar! Can’t hold the rest of the train. Joe! Baldy! Hep with you!” The team straightened out; he restored me the whip. His wrath subsided, for in less dudgeon he addressed her. “Want to ride, do ye?” “I did, sir.” “Wall, in Gawd’s name ride, then. But we don’t stop for passengers.” With that, in another white heat he had picked her up bodily, swung her upon the nearest mule; so that before she knew (she scarce had time to utter an astonished little ejaculation as she yielded to his arms) there she was, perched, breathless, upon the sweaty hide. I awaited results. Jenks chuckled….

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