Word: certainly
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Dates: during 1870-1879
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...entirely disregarded, or rather inverted. The would-be poet, thinking that passable poetry is to be preferred to good prose, expends his energies in putting his thoughts into verse, with more or less regard for metre, forgetting that really good prose is seldom written, and that poetry of a certain stamp is always forthcoming, be the occasion a golden wedding in the country, a military dinner in town, or anything else. The opposite fault - that of writing in the form of prose what would sound better in verse - is sometimes committed, though not often; there are certain ideas, or certain...
...this election, to make mere popularity-sometimes of the thinnest kind-a test in the election of men for such responsible positions as editors of the Era. Those who fill the position not only represent the students here, but also are held as representatives of the University, in a certain sense, by other universities and colleges; hence, to do credit to it needs not only good literary ability, but straightforward manliness, sound judgment, and integrity." In a class election, with Sophomore societies and Sophomore cliques in the field, we doubt if all these qualities would be kept in view...
...feeling that to speak, to write, is a sign of weakness, of lack of self-reliance. It shows that one's own approbation is not sufficient unless that of others be superadded. And there is a dim belief that the speaker, as Socrates says, is moved by a certain divine inspiration and enthusiasm, or, to describe his condition in plain English, he is mad, and, although possessing a certain method in his madness, nevertheless he is destitute of true wisdom. His mind is not finely balanced, he is not sufficient unto himself, his ideas are purely theoretical...
...much better to be moderate in business and study, as in other things! We might well copy, in this respect, the more staid and phlegmatic English and Germans; to be sure, these have their faults, but the most certain way to gain any end is by a safe and thoughtful process, rather than by a violent, hasty action; and the straightest path to success in study is not by excessive application, but by a judicious and reasonable division of one's time between diligence and diversion...
Some, perhaps, will deny the value of this thorough mastery of a few branches of knowledge instead of an acquaintance with all; in answer, two considerations might be brought up, - one the effect on character of becoming perfectly certain in some department of learning, feeling that in one thing at least success has been attained and not merely half-way work; the other an argument from the desire for culture - true culture - itself the training of the whole mind, not by vague ideas gained in careless study or reading, but by definite, clear-cut knowledge of that for which...