Quotation for January 2017: The Stone is Cast, my own sonnet

The Stone is Cast

The Stone is Cast

John 8:7

So since they kept on and on nagging him, he answered them, and said,
“Let the one among you who is sinless be the first to cast a stone at her.”

As stones are cast against the inner walls,
the lessee of the castle wracks his brains,
while wicked winter rails against its halls
and shakes the filings off his dungeon’s chains
where he’s incarcerated serfs at whim,
because they’d dared defy his iron will:
his fingers drew the rusty bolt on him
as well as them, and held him, freezing, still, 
until he fled that vile, ensanguined room, 
their blasted thane — unconscious of his sin,
though conscious of what cold impending doom
was, as winter is, to do him in.
     Oh when it does, its frozen blast shall blind
     him to the shattered mortar of his mind.

Richard Vallance,

January 3, 2017       
  

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4 more profoundly moving spiritual thoughts from the Stoic, Marcus Aurelius

4 more profoundly moving spiritual thoughts from the Stoic, Marcus Aurelius:

Just to give you an idea of the vast scope and universal appeal of the Stoic philosophy the Roman emperor, Marcus Aurelius (AD 160-180) espoused, here is a composite of four quotations from his splendid Meditations, which I urge anyone who has an eye and an ear for profound spiritual thought to read.



I have been and am most deeply moved by this profound observation by Marcus Aurelius on the nature of the soul:

The soul becomes dyed with the colour of its thought.

How true, how eminently and profoundly true. This single, acute observation goes a very long way in explaining how the extent of both the good and the evil in every one of us tinctures the soul of each one of us.  Where ever the good prevails over the evil in one’s life, and the more the better, the more appealing the colour of one’s soul. We can think of many individuals throughout history whose souls are of a subtle, delightful hue. Persons such as Buddha, Mahatma Ghandi and Jesus come to mind.  Their souls must project an aura of  caerulean blue, aquamarine, teal or the like.  But woe to those such as the Roman emperor, the monster, Caligula, Joseph Stalin and  Adolf Hitler, whose souls (or whatever is left of them, if anything) have been tarred all but pitch black.

Latin quotes in Linear B: Part E (Tacitus, Livy, Seneca)

Latin quotes in Linear B: Part E (Tacitus, Livy, Seneca): 
 


Translations:
Sine ira et studio. (Tacitus) Without animosity and without favouritism.
Periculum in mora. (Livy) There is danger in delay.
Homo sit naturaliter animal socialis. (Seneca) It would appear that man is by nature a social animal.
Licentia poetica. (Seneca) Poetic license.
Si vis vacare animo, aut pauper sis oportet, aut pauperi similis. (Seneca)
If you wish to grow in spirit, it is advisable you be poor, or to look like you are.

Latin quotes in Linear B: Part D (Ovid, Virgil, Cicero, Catullus)

Latin quotes in Linear B: Part D (Ovid, Virgil, Cicero, Catullus): 
 


Translations:
Materiam superabat opus. (Ovid) The workmanship was superior to the subject matter.
Forsan miseros meliora sequentur. (Virgil) Hopefully better things will eventually befall the wretched.
Malum quidem nullum esse sine aliquo bono. (Pliny the Elder)
There is no evil without its being offset by some good.
Summum ius, summa inuria. (Cicero) The highest the law, the worst the injustice.
Odi et amo. (Catullus). I hate and I love.
  

Famous quotes from Latin authors in Linear B: Part B

Famous quotes from Latin authors in Linear B: Part B



Translations:
amabalis insania = adorable insanity
Mater saeva cupidinum = the savage mother of avarice
Nil esse in summa, neque habere ubi corpora prima = in the sum of all things there exists nowhere an abyss, nowhere is a realm of rest for primal bodies.
Cuius, uti memoro, rei simulacrum et imago = An image of it, like an idea, as I recall (to  mind)...

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