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    15/07/2024
    The Essays of Francis Bacon cover

    The Essays of Francis Bacon

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    Chapter: 14 | Listen:

    Among the many ideas explored in this book are beauty, gardens, honor and reputation, cunning, nobility, friendship and many others. Authored by the man who is credited with having invented the essay form in English, The Essays of Francis Bacon was written over an extended period, ranging from the mid sixteenth century. They were compiled in a single edition in 1597 and later re-written, enlarged and added to in other editions in 1612 and 1625. However, their compelling and insightful quality still appears fresh and appealing to modern day readers. Francis Bacon, Lord Verulam, the 1st Viscount St Albans, was a distinguished genius whose wide-ranging interests covered philosophy, literature, science, politics, economics, civics, administration and art. He was also a gifted speaker, writer and musician. He had a brilliant political career and served as the Lord Chancellor and Attorney General of England during the reign of Elizabeth I. His career extended into the reign of the next monarch James I. He is also credited with having introduced the scientific method of testing a hypothesis. One of his books, The New Atlantis, explores the idea of creating a Utopian world in the New World, America. An enduring mystery about Francis Bacon is that he is speculated to have been the master playwright who wrote under the pseudonym “William Shakespeare.” Though Bacon’s career ended in disgrace and disappointment due to the machinations of his rivals, he remained at heart, a compassionate and gracious man. This is reflected in these essays. The Essays […]

    15/07/2024
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    The Sadhana: Realisation of Life

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    Chapter: 8 | Listen: 3

    Rabindranath Tagore was a Bengali poet, philosopher, visual artist, playwright, composer, and novelist whose work reshaped Bengali literature and music in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He became Asia’s first Nobel laureate when he won the 1913 Nobel Prize in Literature. Sadhana is a collection of essays, most of which he gave before the Harvard University, describing Indian beliefs, philosophy and culture from different viewpoints, often making comparison with Western thought and culture.     [chương_files]  

    15/07/2024
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    A Short History of England

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    Chapter: 18 | Listen: 3

    Gilbert Keith Chesterton was a prolific writer on many topics. His views of history were always from the standpoint of men and their interactions, and it may fairly be said he saw all of history as a battle between civilization and barbarism. So it has always been, and that remains true even today. “But it is especially in the matter of the Middle Ages that the popular histories trample upon the popular traditions. In this respect there is an almost comic contrast between the general information provided about England in the last two or three centuries, in which its present industrial system was being built up, and the general information given about the preceding centuries, which we call broadly mediaeval. “ As this quotation taken from the Introduction clearly shows, he is no mere pedant reciting dry dates and locations, but a profound thinker flooding new light onto those modern “myths” that have filled our historys. He is a master of paradox, and the techique of reducing his opponents arguments to the logical absurdity they have inherent in them. He often turns them upside down. All of which makes his work both a sound subject for reflection and highly entertaining all the while it remains permanently timely.     [chương_files]  

    15/07/2024
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    A Discourse Upon the Origin and the Foundation of the Inequality Among Mankind

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    Chapter: 6 | Listen: 3

    This work presents Rousseau’s belief in the profoundly transformational effects of the development of civilization on human nature, which Rousseau claims other political philosophers had failed to grasp. Specifically, before the onset of civilization, according to Rousseau, natural man lived a contented, solitary life, naturally good and happy. It is only with the onset of civilization, Rousseau claims, that humans become social beings, and, concomitant with their civilization, natural man becomes corrupted with the social vices of pride, vanity, greed and servility.     [chương_files]  

    15/07/2024
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    Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death

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    Chapter: 1 | Listen: 6

    This speech was given March 23, 1775, at St. John’s Church in Richmond, Virginia, and is credited with having singlehandedly convinced the Virginia House of Burgesses to pass a resolution delivering the Virginia troops to the Revolutionary War. In attendance were Thomas Jefferson and George Washington. Reportedly, the crowd, upon hearing the speech, jumped up and shouted, “To Arms! To Arms!”     [chương_files]  

    15/07/2024
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    Reviews

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    Chapter: 100 | Listen: 3

    Wilde’s literary reputation has survived so much that I think it proof against any exhumation of articles which he or his admirers would have preferred to forget. As a matter of fact, I believe this volume will prove of unusual interest; some of the reviews are curiously prophetic; some are, of course, biassed by prejudice hostile or friendly; others are conceived in the author’s wittiest and happiest vein; only a few are colourless. And if, according to Lord Beaconsfield, the verdict of a continental nation may be regarded as that of posterity, Wilde is a much greater force in our literature than even friendly contemporaries ever supposed he would become. It should be remembered, however, that at the time when most of these reviews were written Wilde had published scarcely any of the works by which his name has become famous in Europe, though the protagonist of the æsthetic movement was a well-known figure in Paris and London.     [chương_files]  

    15/07/2024
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    Anarchism and Other Essays

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    Chapter: 14 | Listen: 3

    Chicago, May 4, 1886. In the Haymarket region of the city, a peaceful Labor Day demonstration suddenly turns into a riot. The police intervene to maintain peace, but they soon use violence to quell the mob and a bomb is thrown, resulting in death and injuries to scores of people. In the widely publicized trial that followed, eight anarchists were condemned to death or life imprisonment, convicted of conspiracy, though none of them had actually thrown the bomb. A young Russian immigrant, Emma Goldman, had arrived just the previous year in the United States. She was deeply affected by what came to be known as the Haymarket Affair. She took on various jobs, including that of a factory worker before becoming a writer and lecturer committed to anarchist philosophy. In the years to follow, she and her lover planned to assassinate a well known financier and industrialist. Though the victim survived, Goldman’s lover was sentenced to life imprisonment while she received a lesser sentence. However, she continued to spend time in and out of jail for various activities including distribution of literature regarding birth control, inducing people not to join the newly introduced military draft etc. She was deported back to Russia but found the regime there highly repressive and lived in Canada, England and France. She wrote passionately about issues that concerned humanity including prisons, religion, marriage, free love, the right of choice, capitalism, homosexuality, gender politics and militarism. Anarchism and Other Essays was first published by her own […]

    15/07/2024
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    The Handy Cyclopedia of Things Worth Knowing

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    Chapter: 43 | Listen:

    Written in 1910, this “cyclopedia” is full of information that was quite useful at the time. A hundred years later, its text is more humorous than practical — although some advice never goes out of style.     [chương_files]  

    15/07/2024
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    The Declaration of Independence of the United States of America

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    Chapter: 1 | Listen: 1

    Declaration of Independence is the document in which the Thirteen Colonies declared themselves independent of the Kingdom of Great Britain and explained their justifications for doing so. It was ratified by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776.     [chương_files]  

    14/07/2024
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    Fifteen Thousand Useful Phrases

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    Chapter: 165 | Listen:

    Fifteen Thousand Useful Phrases is a practical handbook written by Grenville Kleiser. Grenville is known for his writings on humor, positive thinking and inspirational thought. This serves as a handbook of pertinent expressions, striking similes and terms for embellishing speech and literature. This book can be used to improve vocabulary for reading, writing and speaking alike. Through mastery of words, the most powerful and perfect expression of thought can be delivered orally. Choosing the correct words conveys ideas in a crisp and clear way that will hold and audience’s attention. Language can also act as an instrument to reach the human heart and awaken the soul. The author spent years of his life to provide the correct expressions in speech and in writing to help people convey their message excellently and extraordinarily. He has provided a means to increase the vocabulary of a person by practical methodology. This book forms the basis for speaking in a pleasing manner. Practice makes perfect and so here studying this book would surely make anyone an eloquent speaker. Do read this book if you want to master public speaking and develop the mental traits of clarity, exactness and precision.     [chương_files]