Christmas Every Day

“If you would know who controls you see whom you may not criticise.”

— Tacitus

It is better by noble boldness to run the risk of being subject to half the evils we anticipate than to remain in cowardly listlessness for fear of what might happen.

— Herodotus

“Most people, in fact, will not take the trouble in finding out the truth, but are much more inclined to accept the first story they hear.”

– Thucydides

It is frequently a misfortune to have very brilliant men in charge of affairs. They expect too much of ordinary men.

— Thucydides

If someone were to put a proposition before men bidding them choose, after examination, the best customs in the world, each nation would certainly select its own.

— Herodotus

Very few things happen at the right time, and the rest do not happen at all. The conscientious historian will correct these defects. 

— attributed to Herodotus but really the product of notorious scamp Mark Twain in Acknowledgments for A Horse’s Tale

All this month of February this section will feature observations by the world’s greatest historians.

History is Philosophy teaching by example.

— Thucydides

Three things cannot be retrieved:
The arrow once sped from the bow
The word spoken in haste
The missed opportunity.

— Idries Shah

In honour of the 47 Ronin, a piece of Nipponese insight:

Better to be a crystal and to be broken, than to be a tile upon the housetop.

In 1949 Ogden Nash wrote this hymn of praise to baseball’s greats:

A is for Alex
The great Alexander;
More Goose eggs he pitched
Than a popular gander.

B is for Bresnahan
Back of the plate;
The Cubs were his love,
and McGraw his hate.

C is for Cobb,
Who grew spikes and not corn,
And made all the basemen
Wish they weren’t born.

D is for Dean,
The grammatical Diz,
When they asked, Who’s the tops?
Said correctly, I is.

E is for Evers,
His jaw in advance;
Never afraid
To Tinker with Chance.

F is for Fordham
And Frankie and Frisch;
I wish he were back
With the Giants, I wish.

G is for Gehrig,
The Pride of the Stadium;
His record pure gold,
His courage, pure radium.

H is for Hornsby;
When pitching to Rog,
The pitcher would pitch,
Then the pitcher would dodge.

I is for Me,
Not a hard-hitting man,
But an outstanding all-time
Incurable fan.

J is for Johnson
The Big Train in his prime
Was so fast he could throw
Three strikes at a time.

K is for Keeler,
As fresh as green paint,
The fastest and mostest
To hit where they ain’t.

L is for Lajoie
Whom Clevelanders love,
Napoleon himself,
With glue in his glove.

M is for Matty,
Who carried a charm
In the form of an extra
brain in his arm.

N is for Newsom,
Bobo’s favorite kin.
You ask how he’s here,
He talked himself in.

O is for Ott
Of the restless right foot.
When he leaned on the pellet,
The pellet stayed put.

P is for Plank,
The arm of the A’s;
When he tangled with Matty
Games lasted for days.

Q is for Don Quixote
Cornelius Mack;
Neither Yankees nor years
Can halt his attack.

R is for Ruth.
To tell you the truth,
There’s just no more to be said,
Just R is for Ruth.

S is for Speaker,
Swift center-field tender,
When the ball saw him coming,
It yelled, “I surrender.”

T is for Terry
The Giant from Memphis
Whose .400 average
You can’t overemphis.

U would be ‘Ubell
if Carl were a cockney;
We say Hubbell and Baseball
Like Football and Rockne.

V is for Vance
The Dodger’s very own Dazzy;
None of his rivals
Could throw as fast as he.

W is for Wagner,
The bowlegged beauty;
Short was closed to all traffic
With Honus on duty.

X is the first
of two x’s in Foxx
Who was right behind Ruth
with his powerful soxx.

Y is for Young
The magnificent Cy;
People battled against him,
But I never knew why.

Z is for Zenith
The summit of fame.
These men are up there.
These men are the game.