Word: tonic
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...tenderness. Like Beethoven’s third symphony, the “Tragic Overture” opens with two solitary chords. Unlike Beethoven, however, whose opening to his third symphony is bold and heroic, Brahms’ second chord is built unsteadily on a note one step above the tonic and is missing the third entirely. This foreshadows the unmistakable loneliness and emotional dissonance that runs through the entire piece...
...create an elixir to combat loneliness. He intends its curative powers to result from encouraging letters he includes with the product rather than any medicinal properties of the liquid. The remedy is only mildly successful, but it attracts a business partner, Quentin Driscoll, who envisions turning the sweet-tasting tonic into a bottled carbonated beverage...
...governing body like Harvard’s does not thrive on the type of open debate, rousing speeches, and out-and-out polemics that are held to be a valuable tonic to democratic institutions. The Fellows of Harvard College need consensus, good faith, calm deliberation, and open minds. It would not be sensible to recommend putting a radical firebrand on the Corporation. But the amicable consensus that permits the Corporation to run the University as it judges fit, out of the harsh glare of the public eye, need not be a rigid unanimity that threatens to blind the Corporation...
...sleep altogether. In a study of medical residents published in J.A.M.A., researchers found that after an overnight shift during a month of 90-hour workweeks, new doctors showed the same deficits on tests of vigilance, attention and driving skills as they did after downing three 12-oz. vodka-and-tonic cocktails during a regular 44-hour-a-week rotation...
...loss and hung a lot of crape since September of 2001, and war drums beating, they are likely to hang still more. Nations, like people, can sometimes grow too tired to be brave. At the same time, doing one thing--and doing it exceedingly well--can be a remarkable tonic. In the bright nights of the Apollo flights, Americans did that one great thing. With the right will, they could do it again. --Reported by Deborah Fowler/Houston; Greg Fulton/Atlanta; Cathy Booth-Thomas/Nacogdoches; Jerry Hannifin/Cape Canaveral; John F. Dickerson, Sally Donnelly, Eric Roston, Elaine Shannon, Mark Thompson, Karen Tumulty...