Fifteen Minutes a Day
January February March April May June July August September October November December
March 1
(First issue of the “Spectator,” published March 1, 1711.)
Word pictures are often more vivid than photographs. Steele had a gift for originating characters that are remembered longer than flesh and blood people. Sir Roger de Coverly and Will Honeycomb are now bold figures in literature.
Read: THE SPECTATOR CLUB Vol. 27, pp. 83-87 read · scan
Great Ideas in these pages: Virtue and Vice · Custom and Convention · Love · Honor
March 2
“A sailor’s liberty is but for a day,” as Dana explains. Dressed in his Sunday best, the sailor feels like a dashing Beau Brummel; and sets out to enjoy his freedom. “While it lasts it is perfect. He is under no one’s eye and can do whatever he pleases.”
Read: Dana's TWO YEARS BEFORE THE MAST Vol. 23, pp. 112-119 read · scan
Great Ideas in these pages: Custom and Convention · Religion · Liberty · Labor
March 3
(George Herbert died March 3, 1633.)
Isaak Walton, famed patron of fishermen, appreciated other arts and hobbies. He writes of George Herbert, a preacher whose hobby was poetry.
Read: Walton's LIFE OF GEORGE HERBERT Vol. 15, pp. 373-382 read · scan
Great Ideas in these pages: Family · Poetry · Virtue and Vice · Love
March 4
(King Charles grants Penn charter of Pennsylvania, March 4, 1681.)
Penn, true to Quaker beliefs, came before the king with his hat on. The king overlooked this and later made him governor of Pennsylvania. A sagacious Penn is revealed in his writings.
Read: Penn's SOME FRUITS OF SOLITUDE Vol. 1, pp. 321-330 read · scan
Great Ideas in these pages: God · Temperance · Man · Charity
March 5
Prison walls were the least of Cellini’s troubles. “Lock me well up and watch me, for I shall certainly contrive to escape.” In spite of this warning, the utmost care of the jailers only furnished amusement for the dauntless Cellini.
Read: CELLINI'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY Vol. 31, pp. 214-224 read · scan
Great Ideas in these pages: Courage · Justice · Honor · Madness
March 6
(Poe expelled from West Point, March 6, 1831.)
Edgar Allan Poe was expelled from West Point and disinherited. So poor was he that when his young wife lay dying, he could not afford a fire to warm her. The weirdness and despair of “The Raven” is particularly symbolic of his life.
Read: Poe's THE RAVEN Vol. 42, pp. 1227-1230 read · scan
Great Ideas in these pages: Emotion · Memory and Imagination · Immortality · Prophecy
March 7
(Bacon made Keeper of the Great Seal of England, March 7, 1616.)
Bacon pointed out that a judge’s duty was to interpret laws and not to make laws. This single essay of Bacon’s is a richly condensed summary of the ethics of law.
Read: Bacon's OF JUDICATURE Vol. 3, pp. 130-134 read · scan
Great Ideas in these pages: Law · Justice · Judgment · Emotion
March 8
Anselmo and Lothario were close friends. Anselmo, anxious to learn if his wife were perfect, as he believed her to be, makes an unusual proposal to his old friend.
Read: Cervantes' DON QUIXOTE Vol. 14, pp. 307-319 read · scan
Great Ideas in these pages: Honor · Friendship · Love · Prudence
March 9
(Passage of laws ugainst dueling in England, March 9, 1679.)
Swift regretted the laws against dueling because dueling at least was a good means of ridding the country of bores and fools. His keen eye penetrated social customs and saw the common sense that governed good manners.
Read: TREATISE ON GOOD MANNERS Vol. 27, pp. 99-103 read · scan
Great Ideas in these pages: Custom and Convention · Virtue and Vice · Education · Definition
March 10
In the days when contact with the theatre meant exile from the best society, Beaumont and Fletcher, men from good families, dared to ally themselves with the stage as playwrights. “Philaster” won them immortal praise.
Read: PHILASTER Vol. 47, pp. 667-677 read · scan
Great Ideas in these pages: Monarchy · Revolution · Government · Honor
March 11
(Emerson ordained Unitarian minister, March 11, 1829.)
We are paid for our suffering and we pay for our happiness. Every ache, every sorrow receives its recompense here on earth. Emerson gives the basis for this conviction.
Read: Emerson's COMPENSATION Vol. 5, pp. 85-92 read · scan
Great Ideas in these pages: Punishment · Justice · One and Many · God
March 12
(Bishop Berkeley born March 12, 1685.)
Berkeley believed in a great religious future for America. He lived three years in Rhode Island, and made plans for a college in Bermuda.
Read: Berkeley's THREE DIALOGUES Vol. 37, pp. 228-238 read · scan
March 13
Manzoni has pictured in this thrilling romance of the seventeenth century nobility, the pompous and sporting life of those good old days when nobles lived sumptuously in spacious castles surrounded by vast estates.
Read: Manzoni's I PROMESSI SPOSI Vol. 21, pp. 318-332 read · scan
Great Ideas in these pages: Sin · Religion · Emotion · Tyranny
March 14
(Malory, recorder of King Arthur stories, died March 14, 1470.)
“This gentlewoman that ye lead with you is a maid?” demanded the knight. “Sir,” said she, “a maid I am.” “Then she must yield us the custom of this castle.”
Read: THE HOLY GRAIL Vol. 35, pp. 194-200 read · scan
Great Ideas in these pages: Religion · Family · Courage · Chivalry
March 15
(Ides of March, March 15.)
Twice warned of the danger that threatened him on the Ides of March, although “the earthrocked and the stars fell and headless men walked in the Forum,” Czxsar goes to the doom awaiting him in the Senate Chamber.
Read: Plutarch's Caesar Vol. 12, pp. 315-321 read · scan
Great Ideas in these pages: Fate · Prophecy · Revolution · Friendship
March 16
Many amazing things happen in the Malay jungles. For example, Darwin tells about a crab that climbs trees and walks down the trunks for an occasional bath in a pool.
Read: Darwin's VOYAGE OF THE BEAGLE Vol. 29, pp. 466-475 read · scan
Great Ideas in these pages: Geology · Nature · Reasoning · Animal
March 17
(St. Patrick’s Day.)
An old Irish legend tells how, while St. Patrick was preaching about Paradise and Hell, several of his audience begged to be allowed to investigate the reality of these places. St. Patrick actually satisfied their curiosity.
Read: THE POETRY OF THE CELTIC RACES Vol. 32, pp. 174-182 read · scan
Great Ideas in these pages: Poetry · Race and Nationality · Immortality · Religion
March 18
(Massinger buried March 18, 1640.)
A cunning uncle cheats his worthless nephew out of his fortune. The nephew, laughing stock of his former servants, sets out to retrieve his old position and riches.
Read: A NEW WAY TO PAY OLD DEBTS Vol. 47, pp. 859-870 read · scan
Great Ideas in these pages: Wealth · Family · Virtue and Vice · Love
March 19
(Last recorded event in Herodotus’ history dated March 19, 478 B. C.)
The mysterious Egyptian temples, the floating islands, the huge pyramids and the many wonders of ancient Egypt are pictured for you by Herodotus.
Read: Herodotus' AN ACCOUNT OF EGYPT Vol. 33, pp. 72-84 read · scan
Great Ideas in these pages: Monarchy · Prophecy · Art · War and Peace
March 20
(Sir Isaac Newton died March 20, 1727.)
Sir Isaac Newton was aided in his momentous discoveries by the most insignificant objects—even apples, feathers, and coal. Voltaire discusses the wondrous discoveries of Newton.
Read: Voltaire's LETTERS ON THE ENGLISH Vol. 34, pp. 113-124 read · scan
Great Ideas in these pages: Astronomy and Cosmology · Cause · Science · Mechanics
March 21
Venus, mother of Aeneas and wife of Vulcan, obtained from her husband, by seductive witchery, a marvelous shield whose surface reflected a thousand years of future events. Venus describes the wonders of the magic armor.
Read: Virgil's AENEID Vol. 13, pp. 280-292 read · scan
Great Ideas in these pages: Family · Art · Religion · War and Peace
March 22
(Goethe died March 22, 1832.) :
The Faust legend, which can be traced to puppet shows of earlier days, portrays a philosopher who, through Satan’s aid and in return for the price of his soul, works magic at will. From this rude framework Goethe has reared a drama of sublime grandeur.
Read: Goethe's FAUST Vol. 19, pp. 23-36 read · scan
Great Ideas in these pages: Life and Death · Knowledge · Man · Emotion
March 23
Shahrazad, favorite of the treacherous Sultan’s harem, selected a most thrilling story for her bridal night. By leaving it unfinished she was privileged to live to continue it the next night—and so on for a thousand and one nights.
Read: THE THOUSAND AND ONE NIGHTS Vol. 16, pp. 15-24 read · scan
Great Ideas in these pages: Family · Wealth · Emotion · Punishment
March 24
(William Morris born March 24, 1834.)
Guenevere, King Arthur’s queen, justly accused but harshly treated, makes a noble and brave attempt to convince her court that Gawaine lied and that Launcelot was true.
Read: Morris' DEFENSE OF GUENEVERE Vol. 42, pp. 1183-1193 read · scan
Great Ideas in these pages: Love · Chivalry · Emotion · Justice
March 25
(Shakespeare makes his will, March 25, 1616.)
Hamlet pondered over which course contained the least unhappiness—whether to suffer here and not incur new dangers, or whether to end it all and chance the unknown terrors of the next world. See how Hamlet reasoned.
Read: Shakespeare's HAMLET Vol. 46, pp. 144-158 read · scan
Great Ideas in these pages: Poetry · Emotion · Madness · Family
March 26
(Caxton prints ZEsop’s Fables, March 26, 1484.)
Men in all ages have recognized the ingenuity of the practical philosophy and freshness of AZsop’s allegories. Spend a few delightful moments with the wit and wisdom of AZsop.
Read: Aesop’s FABLES Vol. 17, pp. 21-30 read · scan
Great Ideas in these pages: Truth · Desire · Prudence · Liberty
March 27
Is lying or quibbling ever permissible? May one juggle words so a truth is conveyed through a lie and a lie told by a truth? Stevenson unravels this puzzle. —
Read: Stevenson's TRUTH OF INTERCOURSE Vol. 28, pp. 277-284 read · scan
Great Ideas in these pages: Friendship · Love · Truth · Language
March 28
The making of a simple pin is one of the most complex affairs of modern industry. Adam Smith regards the process from the worker’s point of view, and shows the many and varied economic principles that are involved in pin making.
Read: Adam Smith's WEALTH OF NATIONS Vol. 10, pp. 9-17 read · scan
March 29
Brynhild, favorite goddess of Norse mythology, plighted troth with Sigurd, fearless warrior. But Sigurd forgot Brynhild and married Gudrun, whose brother, Gunner, then set out to win the beautiful Brynhild. Complications very like a modern triangle arose.
Read: EPIC AND SAGA Vol. 49, pp. 307-317 read · scan
Great Ideas in these pages: Family · Love · Honor · Memory and Imagination
March 30
“J Promessi Sposi,” a seventeenth century novel, vividly describes the devastating plague of Milan. Then whole families sickened in a few hours and died in less than a day’s time of strange and violent complaints whose symptoms were unknown to physicians. (Capuchin monks given charge of the plague hospital in Milan, March 30, 1630.)
Read: Manzoni's I PROMESSI SPOSI Vol. 21, pp. 500-512 read · scan
Great Ideas in these pages: Medicine · Opinion · Charity · Government
March 31
(John Donne died March 31, 1631.)
Monuments are usually made from death masks, but John Donne took pleasure in posing for his, wrapped from head to foot in a shroud. Isaak Walton tells of this in his fascinating biography of the eccentric poet.
Read: Walton's LIFE OF DR. DONNE Vol. 15, pp. 364-369 read · scan
Great Ideas in these pages: Life and Death · Religion · Honor · Change
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