The Prized Treasures

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  “Will the prized treasures of today always be the cheap trifles of the day before? Will rows of our willow-pattern dinner-plates be ranged above the chimneypieces of the great in the years 2000 and odd? Will the white cups with the gold rim and the beautiful gold flower inside (species unknown), that our Sarah Janes now break in sheer light-heartedness of spirit, be carefully mended, and stood upon a bracket, and dusted only by the lady of the house? . . . .   The “sampler” that the eldest daughter did at school will be spoken of as “tapestry of the Victorian era,” and be almost priceless. The blue-and-white mugs of the present-day roadside inn will be hunted up, all cracked and chipped, and sold for their weight in gold, and rich people will use them for claret cups; and travellers from Japan will buy up all the “Presents from Ramsgate,” and “Souvenirs of Margate,” that may have escaped destruction, and take them back to Jedo as ancient English curios.” Jerome K. Jerome, “T...

Test Your Literary Knowledge

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We've heard most of these, and use many of them frequently; but, see if you are able to identify the literary source where each one came from:

A drop in the bucket
A fly in the ointment
A man after his own heart
A multitude of sins
A thorn in the flesh
All things must pass
All things to all men
Am I my brother's keeper?
An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth
As old as Methuselah
As old as the hills
As you sow so shall you reap
Ashes to ashes dust to dust
At his wits end
Baptism of fire
Beat swords into ploughshares
Bite the dust
Blessed are the peacemakers
By the skin of your teeth
Can a leopard change its spots?
Coat of many colors
Eat drink and be merry
Faith will move mountains
Fall from grace
Fight the good fight
Flesh and blood
For everything there is a season
Forbidden fruit
Forgive them for they know not what they do
From strength to strength
Give up the ghost
Good Samaritan
How are the mighty fallen
In the beginning was the word
It's better to give than to receive
Lamb to the slaughter
Let not the sun go down on your wrath
Living off the fat of the land
The love of money is the root of all evil
Love thy neighbor as thyself
Man does not live by bread alone
Many are called but few are chosen
My cup runneth over
No rest for the wicked
O ye, of little faith
Out of the mouths of babes
Pearls before swine
Physician heal thyself
Sour grapes
Spare the rod and spoil the child
The apple of his eye
The blind leading the blind
The bread of life
The fly in the ointment
The fruits of your loins
The powers that be
The root of the matter
The salt of the earth
The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak
The wages of sin is death
The writing is on the wall
To cast the first stone
What God has joined together let no man put asunder
Woe is me

They all originate from the Bible. People desire the truth and no other source of literature has impacted the English language like the Bible.

(Source: Peter Kennedy Devotional, May 26, 2010)



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