Word: mortality
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Dates: during 1920-1929
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...which the undergraduate wants is inexpensive and easily procured. It has not the rare qualities attributed to the Chinese "bird's nest song", but to the average mortal as a steady diet it is infinitely more attractive...
...notes made by Thomas Carlyle was sold at auction recently for a sum approximating two hundred dollars. George Washington's autograph, whenever and wherever found, is treasured away in a museum. A baseball with George Herman Ruth's signature brought a price of five hundred dollars. But the ordinary mortal who reads books in Widener Library and makes notes in their margins is not and it is possible never will be, as great as the three celebrities mentioned above. His comments, to be sure, arouse an interest in those who read them to know the name of the author...
Even the seemingly almighty examination system is only mortal, and will soon pass out to use. So, at least, says Professor Thorndike, of Columbia, famous as the father of the psychological-test-for-entrance-to-college system, and who now proposes another scheme of education reform. The old system of grading is demoralizing to students, depending as it does, upon mere chance, or "the stupid conceit and sardonic indifference of the individual instructor". The shocking results of such a system, continues Professor Thorndike, are demonstrated by the scandalous fact that at Harvard As are thirty-five-times as common...
...strains the sympathy of the observer almost to the breaking point it fails to arouse a feeling of fellowship. The sad compassion one feels for the miserable unfortunates of another world than ours is roused by this Hamlet because of this very height and monotony of suffering--no mere mortal could bear it without either involuntary reaction or complete dissolution. For this reason by far the most effective appeal is made in the moments after Hamlet has trapped his uncle into betrayal of guilt, when the long strain of hideous uncertainty and brooding breaks at last and a tortured human...
...characters to the standards of the old teachers will be welcomed indeed. Men are by their action happy or the reverse, but that action comes of their qualities. It is the inspired, the illustrious in rank and fortune, the strong spirited, even the resolute wicked, who possess the mortal will to engage in the unequal struggle with destiny whether within or without the mind. Of these comes the action which enlists our eager interest and emotions. A touch of vagueness would have been avoided in the Critique had the word "middle-class" been omitted...