Word: minding
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Dates: during 1870-1879
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...which grew up in the genial climate of Attica and of the Peloponnesus, - the modern prototype of which may be found in the shadow of the elms of the College Yard. And, to carry the simile a little further, at the risk of offending some very good friends of mind, the grim body of non-society men are not unlike the semi-barbaric peoples of Illyria and Achaia, to which melancholy region I shall venture to compare the chilly and cheerless precincts of College House...
...mind, one of the most delightful institutions of the Attic republic was that which permitted the people to banish from among them, from time to time, the men of whom they had grown tired. The delight that an old Greek must have felt at seeing some disagreeable fellow, who had outstripped him in military or political life, or who had neglected to invite him to select little dinner-parties, packed off, bag and baggage, for parts unknown, must have been one of the most unalloyed sentiments that ever filled the human heart; and I often find myself lost in envy...
After all, though, ostracism is not very practicable at present; and I have in mind a much less troublesome system of getting rid of disagreeable people, which I am not rich enough to put into practice. At the same time some of my readers may be able and willing to do so. The plan is very simple. All you need is a large house, a steep staircase, and a pair of hobnailed shoes. The house is a sort of decoy. You invite the man that you don't like to dine with you, or inveigle him into your power...
...present state of mind, I intend to set the staircase and shoes to work as soon as I can afford it; I sincerely hope that all my friends who are rich enough will do the same; and I shall positively decline, after the publication of this article, to visit any of my enemies on any pretext whatever...
This is not necessarily the result of neglect of work, but of the positive inability of many to master or appreciate the study of mathematics; and students who cannot solve knotty problems themselves are obliged to hire tutors to do it for them; thus the training of the mind, the stock argument in favor of mathematics, becomes applicable to the tutor who does the work, but has no effect upon the student for whom it is intended...