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e0bb6d9
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In the castle of Benwick, the French boy was looking at his face in the polished surface of a kettle-hat. It flashed in the sunlight with the stubborn gleam of metal. It was practically the same as the steel helmet which soldiers still wear, and it did not make a good mirror, but it was the best he could get. He turned the hat in various directions, hoping to get an average idea of his face from the different distoritons which the bulges ma..
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T.H. White |
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7a20497
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It was Christmas night, the eve of the Boxing Day Meet. You must remember that this was in the old Merry England of Gramarye, when the rosy barons ate with their fingers, and had peacocks served before them with all their tail feathers streaming, or boars' heads with the tusks stuck in again--when there was no unemployment because there were too few people to be unemployed--when the forests rang with knights walloping each other on the helm..
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the-sword-in-the-stone
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T.H. White |
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304ba41
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These marvels were great and comfortable ones, but in the old England there was a greater still. The weather behaved itself. In the spring all the little flowers came out obediently in the meads, and the dew sparkled, and the birds sang; in the summer it was beautifully hot for no less than four months, and, if it did rain just enough for agricultural purposes, they managed to arrange it so that it rained while you were in bed; in the autum..
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seasons
winter
bucolic
old-times
spring
england
summer
weather
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T.H. White |
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6cdbc25
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Middle-aged people can balance between believing in God and breaking all the commandments without difficulty.
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dissonance
self-delusion
obedience
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T.H. White |
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4646db3
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a king can only work with his best tools.
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T.H. White |
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3fe4a36
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but it seems, in tragedy, that innocence is not enough.
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T.H. White |
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aba547a
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I see what you think you mean," said the magician, "but you are wrong. There is no excuse for war, none whatever, and whatever wrong which your nation might be doing to mine-short of war-my nation would be in the wrong if I started a war so as to redress it. A murderer, for instance, is not allowed to plead that his victim was rich and oppresing hhim, so why should a nation be allowed to? Wrongs have to be redressed by reason, not force."
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T.H. White |
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be568ec
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So Merlyn sent you to me," said the badger, "to finish your education. Well, I can only teach you two things -- to dig, and love your home. These are the true end of philosophy."
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philosophy
wisdom
home
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T.H. White |
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8989ea5
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The race will find that capitalists and communists modify themselves so much during the ages that they end by being indistinguishable as democrats...
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politics
humor
democrats
communism
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T.H. White |
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b1f4b15
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owls are the most courteous, single--hearted and faithful creatures living. You must never be familiar, rude or vulgar with them, or make them look ridiculous. Their mother is Athene, the goddess of wisdom, and, although they are often ready to play the buffoon to amuse you, such conduct is the prerogative of the truly wise.
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T.H. White |
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0c5bec3
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EXPLICIT LIBER REGIS QUONDAM REGIS FUTURI THE BEGINNING
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T.H. White |
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07af0b9
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Lancelot tried to have a Word. His Word was valuable to him not only because he was good, but also because he was bad. It is the bad people who need to have principles to restrain them.
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T.H. WHite |
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e9148f0
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It happened like this in the world. Old things lost their grip and dropped away; not always because they were bad things, but sometimes because the new things were more bad, and stronger.
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T.H. White |
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80f25e9
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Even his conversation was, as it were, a spoken part.
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insincerity
sincerity
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T.H. White |
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09acdc0
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Guenever never cared for God. She was a good theologian, but that was all. The truth was that she was old and wise: she knew that Lancelot did care for God most passionately, that it was essential he should turn in that direction. So, for his sake, to make it easier for him, the great queen now renounced what she had fought for all her life, now set the example, and stood to her choice. She had stepped out of the picture. Lancelot guessed a..
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love
guinevere
lancelot
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T.H. White |
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85fe483
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It was called a tribute before a battle and a ransom afterwards.
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T.H. White |
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12a0d12
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The Wart did not know what Merlyn was talking about, but he liked him to talk. He did not like the grown-ups who talked down to him, but the ones who went on talking in their usual way, leaving him to leap along in their wake, jumping at meanings, guessing, clutching at known words, and chuckling at complicated jokes as they suddenly dawned. He had the glee of the porpoise then, pouring and leaping through strange seas.
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T.H. White |
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aab22d2
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No. There is one fairly good reason for fighting--and that is, if the other man starts it. You see, wars are a wickedness, perhaps the greatest wickedness of a wicked species. They are so wicked that they must not be allowed. When you can be perfectly certain that the other man started them, then is time when you might have a sort of duty to stop him.
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T.H. White |
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7df7118
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God save King Pendragon, May his reign long drag on, God save the King. Send him most gorious, Great and uproarious,
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humor
pendragon
classic
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T.H. White |
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2875ae0
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The mustard--pot got up and walked over to his plate on thin silver legs that waddled like the owl's. Then it uncurled its handles and one handle lifted its lid with exaggerated courtesy while the other helped him to a generous spoonful. 'Oh, I love the mustard--pot!' cried the Wart. 'Wherever did you get it?' At this the pot beamed all over its face and began to strut a bit, but Merlyn rapped it on the head with a teaspoon, so that it sat ..
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T.H. White |
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d6c146a
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Sometimes," he said, "life does seem to be unfair. Do you know the story of Elijah and the Rabbi Jachanan?" "No," said the Wart. He sat down resignedly upon the most comfortable part of the floor, perceiving that he was in for something like the parable of the looking-glass. "This rabbi," said Merlyn, "went on a journey with the prophet Elijah. They walked all day, and at nightfall they came to the humble cottage of a poor man, whose only t..
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T.H. White |
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7725816
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Elaine had done the ungraceful thing as usual. Guenever, in similar circumstances, would have been sure to grow pale and interesting--but Elaine had only grown plump.
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T.H. White |
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4f75870
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To disbelieve in original sin, does not mean that you must believe in original virtue. It only means that you must not believe that people are utterly wicked.
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T.H. White |
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15b0ae8
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There is a thing called knowledge of the world, which people do not have until they are middle-aged. It is something which cannot be taught to younger people, because it is not logical and does not obey laws which are constant. It has no rule. Only, in the long years which bring women to the middle of life, a sense of balance develops. You can't teach a baby to walk by explaining the matter to her logically - she has to learn the strange po..
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T.H. White |
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903ded5
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Arthur was not one of those interesting characters whose subtle motives can be dissected. He was only a simple and affectionate man, because Merlyn had believed that love and simplicity were worth having.
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T.H. White |
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4f95de0
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I don't think you can very well give people as presents: they might not like it.
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T.H. White |
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4e33ad3
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We have had a good time while we were young, but it is in the nature of Time to fly.
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T.H. White |
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91789c1
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Snylrem stnemilpmoc ot enutpen dna lliw eh yldnik tpecca siht yob sa a hsif?
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merlyn
spells
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T.H. White |
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06a58d5
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He was standing in the Inner Court, shouting for his enemy. When Guenever saw him, and he saw her, the electric message went between their eyes before they spoke a word. It was as if Elaine and the whole Quest for the Grail had never been. So far as we can make it out, she had accepted her defeat. He must have seen in her eyes that she had given in to him, that she was prepared to leave him to be himself-to love God, and to do whatever he p..
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T.H. White |
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564fa1b
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The snow-haired Uncle Dap, so old as to be absolutely fabulous, was trying to jump over his walking-stick.
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T.H. White |
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12f6ccc
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Nobody can be too careful about their habits of speech.
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T.H. White |
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f27f166
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The poor fellow had never been cut out to be a villain.
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T.H. White |
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ff209bc
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You could pretend that Guenever was a sort of man-eating lioncelle herself, or that she was one of those selfish women who insist on ruling everywhere. In fact, this is what she did seem to be to a superficial inspection. She was beautiful, sanguine, hot-tempered, demanding, impulsive, acquisitive, charming - she had all the proper qualities for a man-eater. But the rock on which these easy explanations founder, is that she was not promiscu..
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T.H. White |
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3cb5f8e
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On the raptors kept for falconry: "They talk every night, deep into the darkness. They say about how they were taken, about what they can remember about their homes, about their lineage and the great deeds of their ancestors, about their training and what they've learned and will learn. It is military conversation, really, like what you might have in the mess of a crack cavalry regiment: tactics, small arms, maintenance, betting, famous hun..
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social-commentary
self-deception
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T.H. White |
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7c97190
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So we may well believe that the King's men were shriven on the night before they fought. Something of the young man's vision had penetrated to his captains and his soldiers. Something of the new ideal of the Round Table which was to be born in pain, something about doing a hateful and dangerous action for the sake of decency--for they knew that the fight was to be fought in blood and death without reward. They would get nothing but the unma..
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T.H. White |
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d8f92df
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But his heart had been made as a match for Elaine's, and now it was unable to bear the burden which hers had been forced to lay down.
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T.H. White |
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b91b02a
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He loved Arthur and he loved Guenever and he hated himself. The best knight of the world: everybody envied the self-esteem which must surely be his. But Lancelot never believed he was good or nice. Under the grotesque, magnificent shell with a face like Quasimodo's, there was shame and self-loathing which had been planted there when he was tiny, by something which it is now too late to trace.
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T.H. White |
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3519b2a
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I incline my agreement with Toirdealbhach,' said Gareth. 'After all, what is the good of killing poor kerns who do not know anything? It would be much better for the people who are angry to fight each other themselves, knight against knight.' 'But you could not have any wars at all, like that,' exclaimed Gaheris. 'It would be absurd,' said Gawaine. 'You must have people, galore of people, in a war.' 'Otherwise you could not kill them,' e..
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T.H. White |
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93b831f
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The blessing of forgetfulness: that was the first essential. If everything one did, or which one's fathers had done, was an endless sequence of Doings doomed to break forth bloodily, then the past must be obliterated and a new start made. Man must be ready to say: Yes, since Cain there has been injustice, but we can only set the misery right if we accept a status quo. Lands have been robbed, men slain, nations humiliated. Let us now start f..
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T.H. White |
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ccabc25
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You have become the king of a domain in which the popular agitators hate each other for racial reasons, while the nobility fight each other for fun, and neither the racial maniac nor the overlord stops to consider the lot of the common soldier, who is the one person that gets hurt.
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T.H. White |
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daf6f7c
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Grown-ups have developed an unpleasant habit of comforting themselves for their degradation by pretending that children are childish.
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youth
maturity
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T.H. White |
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ae81caa
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Leave well alone.
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T.H. White |
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af5d329
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If I were to be made a knight," said the Wart, staring dreamily into the fire, "I should insist on doing my vigil by myself, as Hob does with his hawks, and I should pray to God to let me encounter all the evil in the world in my own person, so that if I conquered there would be none left, and, if I were defeated, I would be the one to suffer for it."
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T.H. White |
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12dae8e
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Was it the wicked leaders who led innocent populations to slaughter, or was it wicked populations who chose leaders after their own hearts?
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T.H. White |