The following passage comes from a recent work of history – and it quotes another historian.
Ambition that ground its heel into every obstacle, restlessness that often defied common sense; selfishness that ate like a cancer into his reasoning facilities; energy such as had never before been combined with equal genius and resources; ignorance that would have amused a schoolboy; and a moral sense which regarded truth and falsehood as equally useful modes of expression – an unprovoked war or secret assassination as equally natural forms of activity…
Whom does this passage describe?
a) Napoleon Bonaparte
b) Joseph Stalin
c) George W. Bush
d) Rudolph Giuliani
Extra credit for the author of the passage, the historian who quotes it, and the recent book in which it appears.
Answer to follow – here.
i have no idea who authored it or recently quoted it, but i’ll guess: mitt romney.
Energy, genius, etc. Not Bush. I wouldn't put those with Stalin either. Giuliani's not assassinated anyone … to my knowledge.
So that leaves Napoleon. No idea who the author is.
here http://links.jstor.o…(197506)48%3A2%3C216%3AHAAHAT%3E2.0.CO%3B2-N
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I’m not going to pay US$10 for access to the column, but some here may have free access to JSTOR.
… “a”. The historian is Henry Adams. The book is “Henry Adams and the Making of America” by Garry Wills.
our own Not-poleon Boneyhead will have a similar fate as his namesake? That is, retired in disgrace to some island wasteland…Guantanamo perhaps? I dream…
…, who is Beethoven and what is the 3rd Symphony?
(extra marks if you are not confused by that question) đŸ˜‰
Morrissey and the 3rd is “America Is Not the World”
… support Bush and turn against him?
you can’t expect a perfect analogy when the subject of said analogy (bush) is itself imperfect!
… Renown megalomaniac puts forth campaign that claims to enact representative government only to declare himself Emperor in mid-stream.
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Nope… I’d say that is pretty analogous.
…Beethoven symphony that I particularly liked was the 4th. His violin concerto was, however, great, as were all of his piano sonatas. And variations. Usw.
…some of Beethovens most interesting works are classified as “ohne Opus” (I guess that means, unclassified). Two of my favorite pieces are entitled Fuer Elise and Rage Over A Lost Penny.
… underappreciated 7th.
Old Music history joke:
Prof: How many Symphonies did Beethoven write?
Student: Nine, of course.
Prof: Wrong
Student: Wrong?
Prof: Beethoven wrote 4 symphonies: the 3rd, the 5th, the 6th, and the 9th.
…although I admire the 9th, by favorites are the 4th and 7th. I particularly am attracted to the last movement of the 7th, but I can’t separate that from the work as a whole.
… that often struck me about the 2nd is how much Haydn's influence can be heard. One movement (2nd I believe) sounds to me as an echo of the Surprise Symphony.
I haven't heard this notion from many others, but many agree when I bring it up.
I recall (this was a long time ago) that there was a marked difference between (Beethoven’s) 2d and the Eroica (3d).
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What I was amazed at is that, irrespective of his progressive deafness, Beethoven’s most honored works came after he had lost his hearing.
… on what may have been at work in that phenomenon, having to do with cognition versus perception in music. Were I to have gone on into musicology it might have been part of a dissertation.