#classic

Handel's yearning for independence from the traditional chains of patronage and his persistence in monitoring his productions resulted with unique developments concerning Baroque 'opera seria'; however, paradoxically his personal obsession to obtain complete artistic freedom generated disastrous side-effects that eventually impeded the progress of opera in London. ↗

— E.A. Bucchianeri

#classical-music #composers #covent-garden #handel #london

He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire." [On British Labour politician Stafford Cripps.] ↗

— Winston Churchill

#classic-insult #vice #virtue #leadership

My meaning simply is, that whatever I have tried to do in life, I have tried with all my heart to do well; that whatever I have devoted myself to, I have devoted myself to completely; that in great aims and in small, I have always been thoroughly in earnest. ↗

— Charles Dickens

#excellence #life

You are going, Jane?" "I am going, sir." "You are leaving me?" "Yes." "You will not come? You will not be my comforter, my rescuer? My deep love, my wild woe, my frantic prayer, are all nothing to you?" What unutterable pathos was in his voice! How hard was it to reiterate firmly, "I am going!" "Jane!" "Mr. Rochester." "Withdraw then, I consent; but remember, you leave me here in anguish. Go up to your own room, think over all I have said, and, Jane, cast a glance on my sufferings; think of me." He turned away, he threw himself on his face on the sofa. "Oh, Jane! my hope, my love, my life!" broke in anguish from his lips. Then came a deep, strong sob. ↗

— Charlotte Brontë

#heartbreak #romance #life

Being stubborn won't make you fluent. Practicing will! The more mistakes you make, the more you'll learn not to. ↗

— Thanhha Lai

#classic #hope #hope-and-despair #insideoutandbackagain #learning

The spiritual life is a gift. It is a gift of the Holy Spirit, who lifts us up into the kingdom of God's love. But to say that being lifted up into the kingdom of love is a divine gift does not mean that we wait passively until the gift is offered to us. ↗

— Henri J.M. Nouwen

#life

Ruin, eldest daughter of Zeus, she blinds us all, that fatal madness—she with those delicate feet of hers, never touching the earth, gliding over the heads of men to trap us all. She entangles one man, now another. ↗

— Homer

#greece #ruin #men

And what is the problem? It is the old problem of the anxious searcher - the mythic in the interior castle, the poet-pilgrim in a dark wood not sure how to proceed. Which way is the right way? ↗

— Paul Elie

#music #recording-music #music

As they walked, it seemed almost every building had some similar contrivance as decoration, adorning the street in a cacophony of clangs, bangs and whirs. The street’s surroundings danced with steam and smoke, the scent of oil and grease its perfume. ↗

— A.F. Stewart

#anthology #classic-literature #mechanical #science-fiction #steampunk

As flies to wanton boys are we to the gods. They kill us for their sport. ↗

— William Shakespeare

#insignificance #sports