Word: pursuits
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1870-1879
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...midst, several species of this animal are found. To speak scientifically, literary butterflies are bipeds, of the genus Homo. Their bodies are regularly shaped and their wings, though formed of thin tissues of imagination, often grow to great size. Breaking out from the cocoon of indifference to every mental pursuit which often surrounds their boyhood or girlhood, - for the females of this species are more numerous than the males, - they see the wide field of literature spread invitingly before them. Guided by the whim of the moment, as their humbler namesakes are, they float aimlessly among the rich flowers; alighting...
DEAR - : I really should have written to you before, if I had had any idea that you cared to hear from me. I am grieved to learn that you are having such a "glorious" time. The pursuit of happiness in this world is so fatally sure to end in bitter disappointment, that any transient glimpse of it which we may obtain only serves to make the final catastrophe less bearable. The great object in life - or rather of existence, for even our few moments of reasoning existence hardly deserve the name of life - I take to be somewhat as follows...
...were disturbing the peace in that dark corner, were surprised by a Professor. One, seeing escape impossible, posted himself on the spot where the old pump had been, and, holding out his arm, imitated its appearance so well that the Professor passed him by in hot pursuit of the others...
...pursuit is hieing...
...author in his daily jottings and quotations from books too rare or expensive to be within his purchasing power, - all these may find a most valuable help from this "ready writing." Indeed, everybody seems to be so busy nowadays that one cannot but be reluctant to bring forward any pursuit or study that is not itself saving of time; but this is just what shorthand is, and a year's uninterrupted practice of an hour a day is almost certain to furnish the ability to write upwards of a hundred words a minute, or thrice as fast as long-hand...