Contempt

Passages

Every passage tagged with this emotion in the Vela corpus. Search the body text, narrow by source or register, click through to a book’s profile to see how the passage sits with the rest of the work.

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• From The Decameron (1353)

  It had by chance snowed hard during the day and everything was covered with snow, wherefore the scholar had not long abidden in the courtyard before he began to feel colder than he could have wished; but, looking to recruit himself speedily, he was fain to endure it with patience. Presently, the lady said to her lover, 'Let us go look from a lattice what yonder fellow, of whom thou art waxed jealous, doth and hear what he shall answer the maid, whom I have sent to parley with him.' Accordingly, they betook themselves to a lattice and thence, seeing, without being seen, they heard the maid from another lattice bespeak the scholar and say, 'Rinieri, my lady is the woefullest woman that was aye, for that there is one of her brothers come hither to-night, who hath talked much with her and after must needs sup with her, nor is yet gone away; but methinketh he will soon be gone; wherefore she hath not been able to come to thee, but will soon come now and prayeth thee not to take the waiting in ill part.' Rinieri, believing this to be true, replied, 'Tell my lady to give herself no concern for me till such time as she can at her commodity come to me, but bid her do this as quickliest she may.' The maid turned back into the house and betook herself to bed, whilst the lady said to her gallant, 'Well, how sayst thou? Thinkest thou that, an I wished him such weal as thou fearest, I would suffer him stand a-freezing down yonder?' So saying, she betook herself to bed with her lover, who was now in part satisfied, and there they abode a great while in joyance and liesse, laughing and making mock of the wretched scholar, who fared to and fro the while in the courtyard, making shift to warm himself with exercise, nor had whereas he might seat himself or shelter from the night-damp. He cursed her brother's long stay with the lady and took everything he heard for the opening of a door to him by her, but hoped in vain.

• From The Decameron (1353)

  When he had sojourned there a pretty while and had taken particular note of the king's fashions, himseemed he bestowed castles and cities and baronies now upon one and now upon another with little enough discretion, as giving them to those who were unworthy thereof, and for that to him, who held himself for that which he was, nothing was given, he conceived that his repute would be much abated by reason thereof; wherefore he determined to depart and craved leave of the king. The latter granted him the leave he sought and gave him one of the best and finest mules that ever was ridden, the which, for the long journey he had to make, was very acceptable to Messer Ruggieri. Moreover, he charged a discreet servant of his that he should study, by such means as seemed to him best, to ride with Messer Ruggieri on such wise that he should not appear to have been sent by the king, and note everything he should say of him, so as he might avail to repeat it to him, and that on the ensuing morning he should command him return to the court. Accordingly, the servant, lying in wait for Messer Ruggieri's departure, accosted him, as he came forth the city, and very aptly joined company with him, giving him to understand that he also was bound for Italy. Messer Ruggieri, then, fared on, riding the mule given him by the king and devising of one thing and another with the latter's servant, till hard upon tierce, when he said, 'Methinketh it were well done to let our beasts stale.' Accordingly, they put them up in a stable and they all staled, except the mule; then they rode on again, whilst the squire still took note of the gentleman's words, and came presently to a river, where, as they watered their cattle, the mule staled in the stream; which Messer Ruggieri seeing, 'Marry,' quoth he, 'God confound thee, beast, for that thou art made after the same fashion as the prince who gave thee to me!' The squire noted these words and albeit he took store of many others, as he journeyed with him all that day, he heard him say nought else but what was to the highest praise of the king.

• From The Well of Loneliness (1928)

  She looked up: ‘Yes, Mother, I wrote it.’ Then Anna began to speak very slowly as though nothing of what she would say must be lost; and that slow, quiet voice was more dreadful than anger: ‘All your life I’ve felt very strangely towards you;’ she was saying, ‘I’ve felt a kind of physical repulsion, a desire not to touch or to be touched by you—a terrible thing for a mother to feel—it has often made me deeply unhappy. I’ve often felt that I was being unjust, unnatural—but now I know that my instinct was right; it is you who are unnatural, not I. . . .’ ‘Mother—stop!’ ‘It is you who are unnatural, not I. And this thing that you are is a sin against creation. Above all is this thing a sin against the father who bred you, the father whom you dare to resemble. You dare to look like your father, and your face is a living insult to his memory, Stephen. I shall never be able to look at you now without thinking of the deadly insult of your face and your body to the memory of the father who bred you. I can only thank God that your father died before he was asked to endure this great shame. As for you, I would rather see you dead at my feet than standing before me with this thing upon you—this unspeakable outrage that you call love in that letter which you don’t deny having written. In that letter you say things that may only be said between man and woman, and coming from you they are vile and filthy words of corruption—against nature, against God who created nature. My gorge rises; you have made me feel physically sick—’ ‘Mother—you don’t know what you’re saying—you’re my mother—’ ‘Yes, I am your mother, but for all that, you seem to me like a scourge. I ask myself what I have ever done to be dragged down into the depths by my daughter. And your father—what had he ever done? And you have presumed to use the word love in connection with this—with these lusts of your body; these unnatural cravings of your unbalanced mind and undisciplined body—you have used that word. I have loved—do you hear? I have loved your father, and your father loved me. That was love.’ Then, suddenly, Stephen knew that unless she could, indeed, drop dead at the feet of this woman in whose womb she had quickened, there was one thing that she dared not let pass unchallenged, and that was this terrible slur upon her love. And all that was in her rose up to refute it; to protect her love from such unbearable soiling. It was part of herself, and unless she could save it, she could not save herself any more.

• From Macho Sluts (1988)

  A group of executive types had brought in their new secretary to show him what a bunch of losers they all were. They had gotten the poor working boy all tipsy-wipsy and were teaching him how to play pool. When it wasn’t his turn to flub a shot, they were handing him from lap to lap, playing with his tits, singing songs that were so bawdy Lefty was trying to jot the lyrics down on a cocktail napkin. One of them started to hint that if he couldn’t learn to shoot a decent game of pool, they ought to teach him how to pick up dollar bills with his ass so he’d have another trade. The newcomer did not like this at all. Then she shook herself like a wet dog and marched up to the bar. You can go a long way on middle-class rectitude and sheer ignorance. She and Annalies, the bartender, had a long conversation which finally resulted in the new kid being given a beer and a push in my direction. “Don’t do me any favors, Annalies!” I yelled, and headed for the bathroom. A bunch of ladies were combing out in the mirror, trying on each other’s lipsticks and making catty comments about the runs in each other’s stockings. All of them had at least one run. “Is that a boy or a girl?” one of them cried when he-she saw me. “If I don’t know, why should she?” said another. “Oh—it’s Noh! Noh, darlin’, take me away from all this and buy me a drink.” “I can’t afford to keep you in liquor,” I said. “Why don’t you try the big spenders at the pool table?” He-she made a moue of disgust and said breathily, “They have such rough, insensitive hands.” “They might tear her bodice!” “And her falsies would land in her lap!” “Ooh!” cried the stung queen. “Don’t mind Stella,” I called from the booth where I was taking a quick pee. “She’s got her period.” “She’s going through menopause.” “You always pause for men,” Stella crowed, getting her revenge. But her adversary was not quashed. “You mean, mean thing, you know I’m a true-blue lesbian,” lisped he-she. “Noh will be my character witness.” “Look, the only kind of character I want to witness is the loss of a good one. Lily Law just told me the only kind of sex I know how to have is hetero-oppressive, regardless of the gender of the party of the second part.” “Is a party of the second part anything like a stand-in?” “Standing makes it too hard to get in.” When I waved goodbye they didn’t acknowledge me. Stella had confiscated his lipstick, announcing, “That color doesn’t do a thing for you. Dead people should wear black .” They probably got left too often for them to pay it any mind. They didn’t need anybody else anyway.

• From History of the Christian Church: The Complete Set of Eight Volumes (1858)

  The disputation was opened in the Catholic city of Baden, in Aargau, May 21, 1526, and lasted eighteen days, till the 8th of June. The cantons and four bishops sent deputies, and many foreign divines were present. The Protestants were a mere handful, and despised as "a beggarly, miserable rabble." Zwingli, who foresaw the political aim and result of the disputation, was prevented by the Council of Zurich from leaving home, because his life was threatened; but he influenced the proceedings by daily correspondence and secret messengers. No one could doubt his courage, which he showed more than once in the face of greater danger, as when he went to Marburg through hostile territory, and to the battlefield at Cappel. But several of his friends were sadly disappointed at his absence. He would have equalled Eck in debate and excelled him in biblical learning. Erasmus was invited, but politely declined on account of sickness. The arrangements for the disputation and the local sympathies were in favor of the papal party. Mass was said every morning at five, and a sermon preached; the pomp of ritualism was displayed in solemn processions. The presiding officers and leading secretaries were Romanists; nobody besides them was permitted to take notes.161 The disputation turned on the real presence, the sacrifice of the mass, the invocation of the Virgin Mary and of saints, on images, purgatory, and original sin. Dr. Eck was the champion of the Roman faith, and behaved with the same polemical dexterity and overbearing and insolent manner as at Leipzig: robed in damask and silk, decorated with a golden ring, chain and cross; surrounded by patristic and scholastic folios, abounding in quotations and arguments, treating his opponents with proud contempt, and silencing them with his stentorian voice and final appeals to the authority of Rome. Occasionally he uttered an oath, "Potz Marter." A contemporary poet, Nicolas Manuel, thus described his conduct: — "Eck stamps with his feet, and claps his hands, He raves, he swears, he scolds; ’I do,’ cries he, ’what the Pope commands, And teach whatever he holds.’ "162 Oecolampadius of Basle and Haller of Berne, both plain and modest, but able, learned and earnest men, defended the Reformed opinions. Oecolampadius declared at the outset that he recognized no other rule of judgment than the Word of God. He was a match for Eck in patristic learning, and in solid arguments. His friends said, "Oecolampadius is vanquished, not by argument, but by vociferation."163 Even one of the Romanists remarked, "If only this pale man were on our side!" His host judged that he must be a very pious heretic, because he saw him constantly engaged in study and prayer; while Eck was enjoying rich dinners and good wines, which occasioned the remark, "Eck is bathing in Baden, but in wine."164

• From History of the Christian Church: The Complete Set of Eight Volumes (1858)

  Calvin was involved in several controversies, chiefly on account of his doctrine of predestination. He displayed a decided superiority over all his opponents, as a scholar and a reasoner. He was never at a loss for an argument. He had also the dangerous gift of wit, irony, and sarcasm, but not the more desirable gift of harmless humor, which sweetens the bitterness of controversy, and lightens the burden of daily toil. Like David, in the imprecatory Psalms, he looked upon the enemies of his doctrine as enemies of God. "Even a dog barks," he wrote to the queen of Navarre, "when his master is attacked; how could I be silent when the honor of my Lord is assailed?"872 He treated his opponents—Pighius, Bolsec, Castellio, and Servetus—with sovereign contempt, and called them "nebulones,873 nugatores, canes, porci, bestiae. Such epithets are like weeds in the garden of his chaste and elegant style. But they were freely used by the ancient fathers, with the exception of Chrysostom and Augustin, in dealing with heretics, and occur even in the Scriptures, but impersonally.874 His age saw nothing improper in them. Beza says that "no expression unworthy of a good man ever fell from the lips of Calvin." The taste of the sixteenth century differed widely from that of the nineteenth. The polemical writings of Protestants and Romanists alike abound in the most violent personalities and coarse abuse. Luther wielded the club of Hercules against Tetzel, Eck, Emser, Cochlaeus, Henry VIII., Duke Henry of Brunswick, and the Sacramentarians. Yet there were honorable exceptions even then, as Melanchthon and Bullinger. A fiery temper is a propelling force in history; nothing great can be done without enthusiasm; moral indignation against wrong is inseparable from devotion to what is right; hatred is the negative side of love. But temper must be controlled by reason, and truth should be spoken in love, "with malice to none, with charity for all." Opprobrious and abusive terms always hurt a good cause; self-restraint and moderation strengthen it. Understatement commands assent; overstatement provokes opposition. § 119. Calvin and Pighius. I. Albertus Pighius: De libero hominis arbitrio et divina gratia libri decem. Coloniae, 1542, mense Augusto. Dedicated to Cardinal Sadolet. He wrote also Assertio hierarchiae ecclesiasticae, a complete defence of the Roman Church, dedicated to Pope Paul III., 1538. Calvin: Defensio sanae et orthodoxae doctrinae de servitute et liberatione humani arbitrii adversus calumnias Alberti Pighii Campensis. With a preface to Melanchthon. Geneva, 1543. In Opera, VI. 225–404. (Amsterdam ed. t. VIII. 116 sqq.) The same in French, Geneva, 1560. II. Bayle: Art. Pighius, in his "Dict. hist."—Henry, II. 285 sqq. (English trans. I. 492 sqq.).—Dyer (1850), pp. 158–165.—Schweizer: Die protest. Centraldogmen (1854), I. 180–200. Very satisfactory.—Werner (R. Cath.): Geschichte der apologetischen und polemischen Literatur der christl. Theologie (1865), IV. 272 sq. and 298. Superficial.—Stähelin, II. 281–287.—Prolegomena to Calvin’s Opera, VI. pp. XXIII.–XXV.

• From History of the Christian Church: The Complete Set of Eight Volumes (1858)

  Many of these saints were no more than low sluggards or gloomy misanthropes, who would rather company with wild beasts, with lions, wolves, and hyenas, than with immortal men, and above all shunned the face of a woman more carefully than they did the devil. Sulpitius Severus saw an anchoret in the Thebaid, who daily shared his evening meal with a female wolf; and upon her discontinuing her visits for some days by way of penance for a theft she had committed, he besought her to come again, and comforted her with a double portion of bread.294 The same writer tells of a hermit who lived fifty years secluded from all human society, in the clefts of Mount Sinai, entirely destitute of clothing, and all overgrown with thick hair, avoiding every visitor, because, as he said, intercourse with men interrupted the visits of the angels; whence arose the report that he held intercourse with angels.295 It is no recommendation to these ascetic eccentricities that while they are without Scripture authority, they are fully equalled and even surpassed by the strange modes of self-torture practised by ancient and modern Hindoo devotees, for the supposed benefit of their souls and the gratification of their vanity in the presence of admiring spectators. Some bury themselves—we are told by ancient and modern travellers—in pits with only small breathing holes at the top, while others disdaining to touch the vile earth, live in iron cages suspended from trees. Some wear heavy iron collars or fetters, or drag a heavy chain fastened by one end round their privy parts, to give ostentatious proof of their chastity. Others keep their fists hard shut, until their finger nails grow through the palms of their hands. Some stand perpetually on one leg; others keep their faces turned over one shoulder, until they cannot turn them back again. Some lie on wooden beds, bristling all over with iron spikes; others are fastened for life to the trunk of a tree by a chain. Some suspend themselves for half an hour at a time, feet uppermost, or with a hook thrust through their naked back, over a hot fire. Alexander von Humboldt, at Astracan, where some Hindoos had settled, found a Yogi in the vestibule of the temple naked, shrivelled up, and overgrown with hair like a wild beast, who in this position had withstood for twenty years the severe winters of that climate. A Jesuit missionary describes one of the class called Tapasonias, that he had his body enclosed in an iron cage, with his head and feet outside, so that he could walk, but neither sit nor lie down; at night his pious attendants attached a hundred lighted lamps to the outside of the cage, so that their master could exhibit himself walking as the mock light of the world.296 In general, the hermit life confounds the fleeing from the outward world with the mortification of the inward world of the corrupt heart.

• From Macho Sluts (1988)

  Being queer is borderline, but hating women is as inexcusable as loving “women’s clothes.” I happened to run into Gregory at my next placatory tea. He looked like a realman. He was big, he was muscular, he had a deep voice, he had these enormous hands and a beard. I decided to register for one of his classes and check him out. My mistake was that I told my little cronies at StudSolid what I was up to. So of course they wanted follow-up reports, and as long as I was in his class I had to feed them more information. I was so deeply ambivalent about this guy that I never really lied. I told them just enough to keep them interested in him and me. It was like telling them dirty bedtime stories. Why would they ever want to roll over and go to sleep? Professor Gregory became a stock character in my masturbation fantasies. I was horrified and appalled, but I couldn’t stop. Sitting in his class, I hated him. I could tell he really did like boys and loathe women. He was treading a very fine line. Most of the boys adored him. They had to be so frightfully clever to get into this program since they also had androgen-fed muscles and sturdy male backs that could have been put to work rebuilding our war-ravaged country. They didn’t get shit for being that smart, nothing, no reward, no praise, just grudging acknowledgment that they could have a desk and buy their textbooks and pretend they belonged there while the serious students—women—drew a bead on the future and told old jokes about turkey-basters and Gomer Pyle. You can’t take that much abuse without it twisting you up a little and making you feel guilty. It makes you vulnerable to authority, especially someone who has a lot of power but also holds out a few crumbs of approval. Because you know the system can squash you anytime, would like to squash you if you gave it the slimmest pretext, and you desperately need protection, somewhere, anywhere. My intuition told me that Gregory enjoyed making his boys go through hoops for some of that approval, a totally illusory sense of comradeship—perhaps even male bonding. I couldn’t image him fucking a man his own age, or a woman who could tell him whether he was any good or not. I was not his own age and I did not want him to be good to me. But I was female. I was the enemy. He never spoke to any of the women students unless he had to.

• From The Decameron (1353)

  After this promise the physician redoubled in his hospitalities to the two rogues, who enjoyed themselves [at his expense,] what while they crammed him with the greatest extravagances in the world and fooled him to the top of his bent, promising him to give him to mistress the Countess of Jakes,[408]who was the fairest creature to be found in all the back-settlements of the human generation. The physician enquired who this countess was, whereto quoth Buffalmacco, 'Good my seed-pumpkin, she is a very great lady and there be few houses in the world wherein she hath not some jurisdiction. To say nothing of others, the Minor Friars themselves render her tribute, to the sound of kettle-drums.[409] And I can assure you that, whenas she goeth abroad, she maketh herself well felt,[410] albeit she abideth for the most part shut up. Natheless, it is no great while since she passed by your door, one night that she repaired to the Arno, to wash her feet and take the air a little; but her most continual abiding-place is in Draughthouseland.[411] There go ofttimes about store of her serjeants, who all in token of her supremacy, bear the staff and the plummet, and of her barons many are everywhere to be seen, such as Sirreverence of the Gate, Goodman Turd, Hardcake,[412] Squitterbreech and others, who methinketh are your familiars, albeit you call them not presently to mind. In the soft arms, then, of this great lady, leaving be her of Cacavincigli, we will, an expectation cheat us not, bestow you.' [Footnote 408: _La Contessa di Civillari_, _i.e._ the public sewers. Civillari, according to the commentators, was the name of an alley in Florence, where all the ordure and filth of the neighbourhood was deposited and stored in trenches for manure.] [Footnote 409: _Nacchere_, syn. a loud crack of wind.] [Footnote 410: Syn. smelt (_sentito_).] [Footnote 411: _Laterina_, _i.e._ Latrina.] [Footnote 412: Lit. Broom-handle (_Manico della Scopa_).]

• From The Incendiaries (2018)

  I did think, during this break, to look him up online. I found a couple of local-interest articles, Edwards Herald squibs. John Leal, so I learned, while he was still a student, had gotten into a late-night fistfight with a Noxhurst local, one so violent that he’d been jailed. No charges had been pressed; John Leal, released. It looked as though the college had then suspended him. Expelled, perhaps: I couldn’t find him listed with his graduating class. The more recent article featured protests he organized with local churches. He’d marshaled a pro-life group that knelt each morning in front of the local women’s clinic, Phipps. It was the largest abortion-providing clinic in New York. Jo was mentioned; Ian, too. I told Phoebe what I learned, but she didn’t sound interested. Of all the futile causes, she said. She hadn’t seen him, not since he’d invited us to his house. – During the fall term, I’d applied for a part-time Edwards research position with David Ling, a Nobel-lauded economist. It paid less than waiting tables, but it would, of course, help me with future jobs. I started working with him when I returned to Noxhurst, and I lived through a week of trying to do both before I realized I had to cut back at Michelangelo’s. The night I planned to tell Paul, he pitched a deboned tilapia fillet at a line cook’s head. Missing its target, the fish hit the wall, then slid down, trailing oil. It fell to the linoleum, slumped into its tail. I was going to be fired, I thought. But instead, when I told Paul I had no choice but to work less, he asked if this meant I was giving notice. If you’re quitting on me, you little shit, I’ll have your balls, he said. I’ll wrap them up like quail eggs. I’ll tie on a blue ribbon to match, I’ll send them compliments of Paul Conti to— No, I just need to cut down my hours. I’ll find someone to fill in. More insults followed, but he sounded tired, listless, as though forced to recite old lines. Christ, all right, he said, as long as he didn’t notice the change. Once home, I pulled out a bottle of gin. I finished the first glass, and I was pouring a second when I heard the rush of footsteps. Phoebe swept in, jingling the keys I’d had copied. She held a paint-striped mask; a floor-length cape swung and trailed around her legs. I’ve come straight from a costume party, she said. In Liesl’s suite. It was so hot, but I kept the mask on until I left. I think I should get a prize. No one except Julian could figure out who I was. What did you tell them? That I’m the queen of Tajikistan. I abdicated the throne to enroll here. Tajikistan, I said. I don’t think it has a queen. Will, that’s my point.

• From Girls & Sex (2016)

  I had walked into this ballroom unsettled, to say the least, by the white dresses, the wedding motif, the idea of fathers being made the guardians of girls’ “sexual purity.” The fathers were even given a Lucite-encased sixpence to keep as a symbol of their daughters’ virtue, until the girls’ wedding day (as in “something borrowed, something blue, and a silver sixpence in her shoe”). What could be more patriarchal, more regressive? At the same time, the sexualization so rampant in secular culture, which measures a woman’s value first and foremost by how “hot” she is, is little better. I utterly, vehemently disagree with how they approach it, but like me, these parents only want what’s best for their daughters; in their own way, they believe they’re helping their girls combat modern pressures and degrading stereotypes. Brittan talked to me about the “pornography epidemic” and the importance of “empowering” young people to “navigate the assault of sexuality everywhere they go” so that they can make ethical, responsible, “healthy sexual choices.” Like me, she believed that we should educate our children about sex “in a very direct way.” It was all the same language, yet the intent was completely different. To me, purity and hypersexualization are flip sides of the same coin. I’d rather girls were taught that their sexual status, regardless of what it is, is not the measure of their personhood, their morality, their worth. The dads and daughters, having completed the crowning ceremony and signed a “covenant” of purity, took to the floor for their “first dance,” yet another ritual that mirrored a wedding. They looked so happy: the daughters basked in the attention of their fathers or mentors. I may not have agreed with the reason for the gathering, I may not have agreed with their message, but I did appreciate that fathers were communicating with their daughters at all, that they were taking time to deepen their bond with the girls: to create trust, to discuss ethics and values around sex. I interviewed more than seventy young women for this book: only two had ever had a substantive conversation about sex with their fathers. The rest just laughed when I raised the subject. Moms don’t fare much better: even those who believe they’ve talked to their daughters about sex tend to overestimate the efficacy, openness, and comfort level of those discussions. Somehow, once parents stopped saying “don’t,” many didn’t know what to say. So while it’s easy to be appalled by the blatant sexism of Purity Ball dads—and yes, I absolutely was—I am equally appalled that the alternative to them seems to be total silence.

• From Amplified Holy Bible (2015)

  Whose Son is He?” They said to Him, “e The son of David.” 43 Jesus asked them, “How is it then that David by the inspiration of the Spirit, calls Him ‘Lord,’ saying, 44 ‘T HE L ORD (the Father) SAID TO MY L ORD (the Son, the Messiah), “S IT AT M Y RIGHT HAND , U NTIL I PUT Y OUR ENEMIES UNDER Y OUR FEET ” ’? [Ps 110:1 ] 45 “So then, if David calls Him (the Son, the Messiah) ‘Lord,’ f how is He David’s son?” 46 No one was able to say a word to Him in answer, nor from that day on did anyone dare to question Him again. Matthew 23 Pharisaism Exposed 1 T HEN JESUS spoke to the crowds and to His disciples, 2 saying: “The scribes and Pharisees have seated themselves in Moses’ chair [of authority as teachers of the Law]; 3 so practice and observe everything they tell you, but do not do as they do; for they preach [things], but do not practice them . 4 “The scribes and Pharisees tie up a heavy loads [that are hard to bear] and place them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves will not lift a finger [to make them lighter]. 5 “They do all their deeds to be seen by men; for they make their b phylacteries (tefillin) wide [to make them more conspicuous] and make their c tassels long. [Ex 13:9 ; Num 15:38 ; Deut 6:8 ] 6 “They love the place of distinction and honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues [those on the platform near the scrolls of the Law, facing the congregation], 7 and to be greeted [with respect] in the market places and public forums, and to have people call them Rabbi. 8 “But do not be called Rabbi (Teacher); for One is your Teacher, and you are all [equally] brothers. 9 “Do not call anyone on earth [who guides you spiritually] your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. 10 “Do not let yourselves be called leaders or teachers; for One is your Leader (Teacher), the Christ. 11 “But the greatest among you will be your servant. 12 “Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled; and whoever humbles himself shall be raised to honor. Eight Woes 13 “But woe (judgment is coming) to you, [self-righteous] scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you shut off the kingdom of heaven in front of people; for you do not enter yourselves, nor do you allow those who are [in the process of] entering to do so. [Luke 11:52 ] 14 “ d [ Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you swallow up widows’ houses, and to cover it up you make long prayers; therefore you will receive the greater condemnation.

• From Amplified Holy Bible (2015)

  Mark 7 Followers of Tradition 1 N ow the Pharisees and some of the scribes came from Jerusalem and gathered around Him, 2 and they had seen that some of His disciples ate their bread with [ceremonially] impure hands, that is, unwashed [and defiled according to Jewish religious ritual]. 3 (a For the Pharisees and all of the Jews do not eat unless they b carefully wash their hands, holding firmly to the traditions of the elders; 4 and when they come from the market place, they do not eat unless they c cleanse themselves [completely according to ritual]; and there are many other things [oral, man-made laws and traditions handed down to them] which they follow diligently, such as the washing of cups and pitchers and copper utensils.) 5 So the Pharisees and scribes asked Jesus, “Why do Your disciples not live their lives according to the tradition of the elders, but [instead] eat their bread with [ceremonially] unwashed hands?” 6 He replied, “Rightly did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites (play-actors, pretenders), as it is written [in Scripture], ‘T HESE PEOPLE HONOR M E WITH THEIR LIPS , B UT THEIR HEART IS FAR FROM M E . 7 ‘T HEY WORSHIP M E IN VAIN [their worship is meaningless and worthless, a pretense], T EACHING THE PRECEPTS OF MEN AS DOCTRINES [giving their traditions equal weight with the Scriptures].’ [Is 29:13 ] 8 “You disregard and neglect the commandment of God, and cling [faithfully] to the tradition of men.” 9 He was also saying to them, “You are experts at setting aside and nullifying the commandment of God in order to keep your [man-made] tradition and regulations. 10 “For Moses said, ‘H ONOR YOUR FATHER AND YOUR MOTHER [with respect and gratitude]’; and, ‘H E WHO SPEAKS EVIL OF HIS FATHER OR MOTHER MUST BE PUT TO DEATH ’; [Ex 20:12 ; 21:17 ; Lev 20:9 ; Deut 5:16 ] 11 but you [Pharisees and scribes] say, ‘If a man tells his father or mother, “Whatever I have that would help you is Corban, (that is to say, already a gift to God),” ’ 12 then you no longer let him do anything for his father or mother [since helping them would violate his vow of Corban]; 13 so you nullify the [authority of the] word of God [acting as if it did not apply] because of your tradition which you have handed down [through the elders]. And you do many things such as that.” The Heart of Man 14 After He called the people to Him again, He began saying to them, “Listen [carefully] to Me, all of you, [hear] and understand [what I am saying]: 15 there is nothing outside a man [such as food] which by going into him can defile him [morally or spiritually]; but the things which come out of [the heart of] a man are what defile and dishonor him.

• From Lady Chatterley's Lover (1928)

  "I don't at all mind posing as the father of Connie's child. But only on the condition that she'll come and pose as a model for me. I've wanted her for years, and she's always refused." He uttered it with the dark finality of an inquisitor announcing an _auto da fé_. "Ah!" said Mellors. "You only do it on condition, then?" "Quite! I only do it on that condition." The artist tried to put the utmost contempt of the other person into his speech. He put a little too much. "Better have me as a model at the same time," said Mellors. "Better do us in a group, Vulcan and Venus under the net of art. I used to be a blacksmith, before I was a gamekeeper." "Thank you," said the artist. "I don't think Vulcan has a figure that interests me." "Not even if it was tubified and titivated up?" There was no answer. The artist was too haughty for further words. It was a dismal party, in which the artist henceforth steadily ignored the presence of the other man, and talked only briefly, as if the words were wrung out of the depths of his gloomy portentousness, to the women. "You didn't like him, but he's better than that, really. He's really kind," Connie explained as they left. "He's a little black pup with a corrugated distemper," said Mellors. "No, he wasn't nice today." "And will you go and be a model to him?" "Oh, I don't really mind any more. He won't touch me. And I don't mind anything, if it paves the way to a life together for you and me." "But he'll only shit on you on canvas." "I don't care. He'll only be painting his own feelings for me, and I don't mind if he does that. I wouldn't have him touch me, not for anything. But if he thinks he can do anything with his owlish arty staring, let him stare. He can make as many empty tubes and corrugations out of me as he likes. It's his funeral. He hated you for what you said: that his tubified art is sentimental and self-important. But of course it's true." CHAPTER XIX

• From Amplified Holy Bible (2015)

  6 “It shall be that her firstborn [son] will a be given the name of the dead brother, so that his name will not be blotted out of Israel. 7 “But if the man does not want to marry his brother’s [widowed] wife, then she shall go up to the gate [of the city, where court is held] to the elders, and say, ‘My brother-in-law refuses to continue his brother’s name in Israel; he is not willing to perform the duty of a husband’s brother.’ 8 “Then the elders of his city will summon him and speak to him. And if he stands firm and says, ‘I do not want to marry her,’ 9 then his brother’s widow shall approach him in the presence of the elders, and pull his sandal off his foot and spit in his face; and she shall answer and say, ‘So it is done to that man who does not build up his brother’s household.’ 10 “In Israel his [family] name shall be, ‘The house of him whose sandal was removed.’ 11 “If [two] men, a man and his countryman, are fighting and the wife of one approaches to rescue her husband from the man who is striking him, and she reaches out with her hand and grabs the aggressor’s genitals, 12 then you shall cut off her hand; you shall not show pity [for her]. 13 “You shall not have in your bag inaccurate weights, a heavy and a light [so you can cheat others]. 14 “You shall not have in your house inaccurate measures, a large and a small. 15 “You shall have a perfect (full) and just weight, and a perfect and just measure, so that your days may be long in the land which the LORD your God gives you. 16 “For everyone who does such things, everyone who acts unjustly [without personal integrity] is utterly repulsive to the LORD your God. 17 “Remember what Amalek did to you along the road when you came from Egypt, 18 how he met you along the road and attacked all the stragglers at your rear when you were tired and weary; and he did not b fear God. [Ex 17:14 ] 19 “Therefore when the LORD your God has given you rest from all your surrounding enemies, in the land which the LORD your God gives you as an inheritance to possess, you shall wipe out the memory of Amalek from under heaven; you must not forget.

• From Lady Chatterley's Lover (1928)

  said Tommy Dukes. "I'd like to know what the tie is.... The tie that binds _us_ just now is mental friction on one another. And, apart from that, there's damned little tie between us. We bust apart, and say spiteful things about one another, like all the other damned intellectuals in the world. Damned everybodies, as far as that goes, for they all do it. Else we bust apart, and cover up the spiteful things we feel against one another by saying false sugaries. It's a curious thing that the mental life seems to flourish with its roots in spite, ineffable and fathomless spite. Always has been so! Look at Socrates, in Plato, and his bunch round him! The sheer spite of it all, just sheer joy in pulling somebody else to bits.... Protagoras, or whoever it was! And Alcibiades, and all the other little disciple dogs joining in the fray! I must say it makes one prefer Buddha, quietly sitting under a bo-tree, or Jesus, telling his disciples little Sunday stories, peacefully, and without any mental fireworks. No, there's something wrong with the mental life, radically. It's rooted in spite and envy, envy and spite. Ye shall know the tree by its fruit." "I don't think we're altogether so spiteful," protested Clifford. "My dear Clifford, think of the way we talk each other over, all of us. I'm rather worse than anybody else, myself. Because I infinitely prefer the spontaneous spite to the concocted sugaries; now they _are_ poison; when I begin saying what a fine fellow Clifford is, etc, etc, then poor Clifford is to be pitied. For God's sake, all of you, say spiteful things about me, then I shall know I mean something to you. Don't say sugaries, or I'm done." "Oh, but I do think we honestly like one another," said Hammond. "I tell you we must ... we say such spiteful things to one another, about one another, behind our backs! I'm the worst." "And I do think you confuse the mental life with the critical activity. I agree with you, Socrates gave the critical activity a grand start, but he did more than that," said Charlie May, rather magisterially. The cronies had such a curious pomposity under their assumed modesty. It was all so _ex cathedra_, and it all pretended to be so humble. Dukes refused to be drawn about Socrates. "That's quite true, criticism and knowledge are not the same thing," said Hammond. "They aren't, of course," chimed in Berry, a brown, shy young man, who had called to see Dukes, and was staying the night. They all looked at him as if the ass had spoken.

• From Lady Chatterley's Lover (1928)

  "Like it? No! I never liked the thing. But she fixed it all up to have it done, like." He returned to pulling off his boots. "If you don't like it, why do you keep it hanging there? Perhaps your wife would like to have it," she said. He looked up at her with a sudden grin. "She carted off ivrything as was worth taking from th'ouse," he said. "But she left _that_!" "Then why do you keep it? For sentimental reasons?" "Nay, I niver look at it. I hardly knowed it wor theer. It's bin theer sin' we come to this place." "Why don't you burn it?" she said. He twisted round again and looked at the enlarged photograph. It was framed in a brown-and-gilt frame, hideous. It showed a clean-shaven, alert, very young looking man in a rather high collar, and a somewhat plump, bold young woman with hair fluffed out and crimped, and wearing a dark satin blouse. "It wouldn't be a bad idea, would it?" he said. He had pulled off his boots, and put on a pair of slippers. He stood up on the chair, and lifted down the photograph. It left a big pale place on the greenish wallpaper. "No use dusting it now," he said, setting the thing against the wall. He went to the scullery, and returned with hammer and pincers. Sitting where he had sat before, he started to tear off the back-paper from the big frame, and to pull out the springs that held the backboard in position, working with the immediate quiet absorption that was characteristic of him. He soon had the nails out: then he pulled out the backboards, then the enlargement itself, in its solid white mount. He looked at the photograph with amusement. "Shows me for what I was, a young curate, and her for what she was, a bully," he said. "The prig and the bully!" "Let me look!" said Connie. He did look indeed very clean-shaven and very clean altogether, one of the clean young men of twenty years ago. But even in the photograph his eyes were alert and dauntless. And the woman was not altogether a bully, though her jowl was heavy. There was a touch of appeal in her. "One never should keep these things," said Connie. "That one shouldn't! One should never have them made!" He broke the cardboard photograph and mount over his knee, and when it was small enough, put it on the fire. "It'll spoil the fire, though," he said. The glass and the backboards he carefully took upstairs. The frame he knocked asunder with a few blows of the hammer, making the stucco fly. Then he took the pieces into the scullery. "We'll burn that tomorrow," he said. "There's too much plaster-moulding on it." Having cleared away, he sat down. "Did you love your wife?" she asked him. "Love?" he said. "Did you love Sir Clifford?" But she was not going to be put off.

• From The Decameron (1353)

  As they went, they were discovered and taken with the dead body by the officers of the provostry, who chanced to be abroad at that hour about some other matter. Andrevuola, more desirous of death than of life, recognizing the officers, said frankly, 'I know who you are and that it would avail me nothing to seek to flee; I am ready to go with you before the Seignory and there declare how the case standeth; but let none of you dare to touch me, provided I am obedient to you, or to remove aught from this body, an he would not be accused of me.' Accordingly, without being touched of any, she repaired, with Gabriotto's body, to the palace, where the Provost, hearing what was to do, arose and sending for her into his chamber, proceeded to enquire of this that had happened. To this end he caused divers physicians look if the dead man had been done to death with poison or otherwise, who all affirmed that it was not so, but that some imposthume had burst near the heart, the which had suffocated him. The magistrate hearing this and feeling her to be guilty in [but] a small matter, studied to make a show of giving her that which he could not sell her and told her that, an she would consent to his pleasures, he would release her; but, these words availing not, he offered, out of all seemliness, to use force. However, Andrevuola, fired with disdain and waxed strong [for indignation], defended herself manfully, rebutting him with proud and scornful words.

• From Amplified Holy Bible (2015)

  [2 Chr 15:2 ; Jer 29:13 ] 5 “But do not resort to Bethel [to worship the golden calf] Nor enter [idolatrous] Gilgal, Nor cross over to Beersheba [and its idols]; For Gilgal will certainly go into captivity and exile, And Bethel will come to nothing. 6 “Seek the LORD [search diligently for Him and long for Him as your most essential need] so that you may live, Or He will rush down like a [devouring] fire, O a house of Joseph, And there will be no one to quench the flame for [idolatrous] b Bethel, 7 “For those [shall be consumed] who turn justice into wormwood (bitterness) And cast righteousness down to the earth.” 8 He who made the [cluster of stars called] Pleiades and [the constellation] Orion, Who turns deep darkness into the morning And darkens the day into night, Who calls for the waters of the sea And pours them out on the surface of the earth, The LORD is His name. 9 It is He who causes [sudden] destruction to flash forth on the strong So that destruction comes on the fortress. 10 They hate the one who reprimands [the unrighteous] in the [court held at the city] gate [regarding him as unreasonable and rejecting his reprimand], And they detest him who speaks [the truth] with integrity and honesty. 11 Therefore, because you impose heavy rent on the poor And demand a tribute (food-tax) of grain from them, Though you have built [luxurious] houses of square stone, You will not live in them; You have planted beautiful vineyards, but you will not drink their wine. 12 For I know your transgressions are many and your sins are great (shocking, innumerable), You who distress the righteous and take bribes, And turn away from the poor in the [court of the city] gate [depriving them of justice]. 13 Therefore, he who is prudent and has insight will keep silent at such a [corrupt and evil] time, for it is an evil time [when people will not listen to truth and will disregard those of good character]. 14 Seek (long for, require) good and not evil, that you may live; And so may the LORD God of hosts be with you, Just as you have said! 15 Hate evil and love good, And establish justice in the [court of the city] gate. Perhaps the LORD God of hosts Will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph [that is, those who remain after God’s judgment]. 16 Therefore, thus says the LORD God of hosts, the Lord, “There is wailing in all the public plazas, And in all the streets they say, ‘Alas! Alas!’ And they call the farmers to mourning [for those who have died] And professional mourners to wailing. 17 “And in all vineyards there is wailing, For I will pass through your midst [in judgment],” says the LORD .

• From Amplified Holy Bible (2015)

  8 They (the priests) a feed on the sin offering of My people And set their heart on their wickedness. [Lev 7:7 , 8 ] 9 And it shall be: like people, like priest [both are wicked and both will be judged]; So I will punish them for their ways And repay them for their deeds. 10 They will eat, but not have enough; They will play the prostitute, but not increase [their descendants], Because they have stopped giving heed to the LORD . 11 Prostitution, wine, and new wine take away the mind and the [spiritual] understanding. 12 My people consult their [lifeless] wooden idol, and their [diviner’s] wand gives them oracles. For a spirit of prostitution has led them astray [morally and spiritually], And they have played the prostitute, withdrawing themselves from their God. 13 They sacrifice on the tops of the mountains And burn incense on the hills, Under oaks, poplars, and terebinths, Because the shade is pleasant there. Therefore your daughters play the prostitute And your brides commit adultery. 14 I will not punish your daughters when they play the prostitute Or your brides when they commit adultery, For the men themselves slip away with prostitutes, And they offer sacrifices with temple prostitutes [who give their bodies in honor of the idol]. So the people without understanding [stumble and fall and] come to ruin. 15 Though you, Israel, play the prostitute [by worshiping idols], Do not let Judah become guilty [of the same thing]; And do not go to Gilgal [where idols are worshiped], Or go up to b Beth-aven (House of Wickedness), Nor swear [oaths in idolatrous worship, saying], “As the LORD lives!” 16 For Israel is stubborn, Like a stubborn heifer. Can the LORD now pasture them Like a lamb in a large field? 17 Ephraim is joined to idols, So let him alone [to suffer the consequences]. 18 When their liquor is gone [and their drinking parties are over], They habitually go to play the prostitute; Ephraim’s rulers continue to dearly love shame [more than her glory which is the LORD , Israel’s God]. 19 The wind [of God’s relentless wrath] has wrapped up Israel in its wings, And [in captivity] they will be ashamed because of their sacrifices [to calves, to sun, to moon, to stars, and to pagan gods]. Hosea 5 The People’s Apostasy Rebuked 1 H EAR THIS and pay close attention, O priests! Give heed, O house of Israel! Listen, O house of the king! For the [pronounced] judgment pertains to you and is meant for you to hear, Because you have been a snare at Mizpah And a net spread out over Tabor (military strongholds on either side of the Jordan River). 2 The revolters have gone deep into depravity, But I [the LORD God] will chastise them all. 3 I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hidden from Me; For now, O Ephraim, you have played the prostitute and have worshiped idols; Israel has defiled itself.