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Hermann Hesse
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Spotlight: Hermann Hesse, novelist and poet, was born on this date in 1877. Best known for his works
Siddhartha (1922) and
Steppenwolf (1927), Hesse wrote of the loneliness and alienation of the artist, and of the dual nature of humanity — the struggle between man's spiritual and physical sides. He won the 1946 Nobel Prize in Literature. The rock group Sparrow changed its name to
Steppenwolf after Hesse's novel. Their song "
Born to be Wild" was featured in the film
Easy Rider, a movie about the conflict between
Establishment and
countercultural ideals.
Quote: "I have always believed, and I still believe, that whatever good or bad fortune may come our way, we can always give it meaning and transform it into something of value." — Hermann Hesse
Question of the Day: Why was Siddhartha called the Buddha?To the king
Suddhodana and queen
Maya, Buddha was born as Siddhartha, around 566BC. Siddhartha married
Yasodhara at age of 16 and they had a son named
Rahul. Once, while traveling Siddhartha came to see the miseries of the world -- sickness, old age and death. These miseries influenced him and he decided to renounce all his pleasures as a king and he turned into a wandering monk. He began a search for truth. For six years he practiced severe
asceticism, thinking this would lead him to enlightenment.
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Salad
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Word of the day: salad days
The time of youth, innocence, and inexperience, as in
Back in our salad days we went anywhere at night, never thinking about whether it was safe or not.
This expression, alluding to the greenness of inexperience, was probably invented by Shakespeare in
Antony and Cleopatra (1:5), when Cleopatra, now enamored of Antony, speaks of her early admiration for Julius Caesar as foolish: "
My salad days, when I was green in judgment, cold in blood."
(© Houghton Mifflin Company)
This week we'll look at some phrases that take their names from produce.
Today's History:
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The Self-Contained Artificial Heart
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Today's Birthdays:
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Vincente Fox
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