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A reformer exhorted children that they would succeed where he and his colleagues had failed with the charge: Live for that better day.
Barbara W. Tuchman A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century
by Barbara W. Tuchman
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The passage reflects the aspirations of a reformer who encourages children to strive for a brighter future, suggesting that they possess the potential to achieve what previous generations could not. By urging them to "live for that better day," the reformer emphasizes hope and the possibility of change, indicating a belief in progress through the younger generation's actions.

In the context of Barbara W. Tuchman's historical analysis in "A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century," this message resonates with the larger themes of resilience and ambition in difficult times. Tuchman explores the challenges faced during the 14th century, and the reformer's call to the youth symbolizes the enduring human spirit and its quest for improvement amidst adversity.

The passage reflects the aspirations of a reformer who encourages children to strive for a brighter future, suggesting that they possess the potential to achieve what previous generations could not. By urging them to "live for that better day," the reformer emphasizes hope and the possibility of change, indicating a belief in progress through the younger generation's actions.

In the context of Barbara W. Tuchman's historical analysis in "A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century," this message resonates with the larger themes of resilience and ambition in difficult times. Tuchman explores the challenges faced during the 14th century, and the reformer's call to the youth symbolizes the enduring human spirit and its quest for improvement amidst adversity.

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A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century
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Barbara W. Tuchman
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Other quotes in A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century

Although my initial question has escaped an answer, the interest of the period itself- a violent, tormented, bewildered, suffering and disintegrating age, a time, as many thought, of Satan triumphant- was compelling, as it seemed to me, consoling in a period of similar disarray. If our last decade or two of collapsing assumptions has been a period of unusual discomfort, it is reassuring to know that the human species has lived through worse before.
Barbara W. Tuchman A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century
Although my initial question has escaped an answer, the interest of the period itself- a violent, tormented, bewildered, suffering and disintegrating age, a time, as many thought, of Satan triumphant- was compelling, as it seemed to me, consoling in a period of similar disarray. If our last decade or two of collapsing assumptions has been a period of unusual discomfort, it is reassuring to know that the human species has lived through worse before.
The reckoning of time was based on the movements of sun and stars, nature's timekeepers, which were familar and carefully observed.
Barbara W. Tuchman A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century
The reckoning of time was based on the movements of sun and stars, nature's timekeepers, which were familar and carefully observed.
No one dared tell the outcome of the battle to Philip VI until his jester was thrust forward and said, "Oh, the cowardly English, the cowardly English!" and on being asked why, replied, "They did not jump overboard like our brave Frenchmen." The King evidently got the point. The fish drank so much French blood, it was said afterward, that if God had given them the power of speech they would have spoken in French.
Barbara W. Tuchman A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century
No one dared tell the outcome of the battle to Philip VI until his jester was thrust forward and said, "Oh, the cowardly English, the cowardly English!" and on being asked why, replied, "They did not jump overboard like our brave Frenchmen." The King evidently got the point. The fish drank so much French blood, it was said afterward, that if God had given them the power of speech they would have spoken in French.
Two years later the logic of the struggle led {Pope} John XXII to excommunicate William of Ockham, the English Franciscan, known for his forceful reasoning as the invincible doctor. In expounding a philosophy called nominalism, Ockham opened a dangerous door to direct intuitive knowledge of the physical world. He was in a sense a spokesman for intellectual freedom, and the Pope recognized the implications by his ban. In reply to the excommunication, Ockham promptly charged John XXII with seventy errors and seven heresies.
Barbara W. Tuchman A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century
Two years later the logic of the struggle led {Pope} John XXII to excommunicate William of Ockham, the English Franciscan, known for his forceful reasoning as the invincible doctor. In expounding a philosophy called nominalism, Ockham opened a dangerous door to direct intuitive knowledge of the physical world. He was in a sense a spokesman for intellectual freedom, and the Pope recognized the implications by his ban. In reply to the excommunication, Ockham promptly charged John XXII with seventy errors and seven heresies.
Supposed to be commissioned by the Church, the pardoners would sell absolution for any sin from gluttony to homicide, cancel any vow of chastity or fasting, remit any penance for money, most of which they pocketed.
Barbara W. Tuchman A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century
Supposed to be commissioned by the Church, the pardoners would sell absolution for any sin from gluttony to homicide, cancel any vow of chastity or fasting, remit any penance for money, most of which they pocketed.
Human behavior is timeless.
Barbara W. Tuchman A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century
Human behavior is timeless.
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My mother's gifts of courage to me were both large and small. The latter are woven so subtly into the fabric of my psyche that I can hardly distinguish where she stops and I begin.
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My mother's gifts of courage to me were both large and small. The latter are woven so subtly into the fabric of my psyche that I can hardly distinguish where she stops and I begin.
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This is the pedagogical paradox. The person and the teacher is required precisely because the knowledge itself is nontransferable from teacher to student.
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If you're independent-minded in school, you're probably going to get in trouble very early on. That's not the trait that's being preferred or cultivated.
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If you're independent-minded in school, you're probably going to get in trouble very early on. That's not the trait that's being preferred or cultivated.
Preparation for the future was necessary, and he was willing to admit that the great change would perhaps come in the upheaval of a revolution. But he argued that revolutionary propaganda was a delicate work of high conscience. It was the education of the masters of the world. It should be as careful as the education given to kings.
Joseph Conrad The Secret Agent
Preparation for the future was necessary, and he was willing to admit that the great change would perhaps come in the upheaval of a revolution. But he argued that revolutionary propaganda was a delicate work of high conscience. It was the education of the masters of the world. It should be as careful as the education given to kings.
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