Facies non omnibus una, / Nec diversa tamen; qualem decet esse sororum=--The features were not the same in them all, nor yet are they quite different, but such as we would expect in sisters.
The combined arts appear to me like a family of sisters, of whom the greater part were inclined to good company, but one was light-headed, and desirous to appropriate and squander the whole goods and chattels of the household--the theatre is this wasteful sister.
We have met the enemy, and they are ours.
And took for truth the test of ridicule.
Something there is more immortal even than the stars, (Many the burials, many the days and nights, passing away,) Something that shall endure longer even than lustrous Jupiter Longer than sun or any revolving satellite, Or the radiant sisters the Pleiades.
We are taught you must blame your father, your sisters, your brothers, the school, the teachers - but never blame yourself. It's never your fault. But it's always your fault, because if you wanted to change you're the one who has got to change.
Dear brothers and sisters, after the great Pope, John Paul II, the cardinals have elected me, a simple and humble worker in the Lord's vineyard. The fact that the Lord can work and act even with insufficient means consoles me, and above all I entrust myself to your prayers.
We tell the ladies that good wives make good husbands; I believe it is a more certain position that good brothers make good sisters.
Iron sleet of arrowy shower Hurtles in the darken'd air.
Of all the sisters of Love one of the most charming is Pity.--_Alfred de Musset._
The weird sisters.
“I’ll tell you the truth,” replied Jesus. “No one who has left a house, or brothers or sisters, or mother or father, or children, or lands because of me and the gospel 30will fail to receive back a hundred times more in the present age: houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and lands—with persecutions!—and finally the life of the age to come. 31But plenty of people at the front will end up at the back, and the back at the front.
Our meeting here on earth with those we loved was not our doing. We did not select our father and mother, and sisters and brothers. We did not even explore the whole world to discover our friends. They too were more or less given us, the choice was given us, and the sphere of choice was determined and limited. Hence we seem to have a right to say that they were meant for us, and we for them, and unless we believe in accident, who is there by whose will alone they could have been meant for us? Hence, if they were meant for us once by a Divine, not by our own will, that will can never change, and we have a right to hope and even to believe that _what has been will be_, and that we shall again meet and love those whom we met and loved here. This is faith, and this is comfort, but it is greater faith, and greater comfort still, if we close our eyes in the firm conviction that whatever will be, will be best for us.
~Invention.~--Invention is a kind of muse, which, being possessed of the other advantages common to her sisters, and being warmed by the fire of Apollo, is raised higher than the rest.--_Dryden._
This life is what you make it. No matter what, you're going to mess up sometimes, it's a universal truth. But the good part is you get to decide how you're going to mess it up. Girls will be your friends - they'll act like it anyway. But just remember, some come, some go. The ones that stay with you through everything - they're your true best friends. Don't let go of them. Also remember, sisters make the best friends in the world. As for lovers, well, they'll come and go too. And baby, I hate to say it, most of them - actually pretty much all of them are going to break your heart, but you can't give up because if you give up, you'll never find your soulmate. You'll never find that half who makes you whole and that goes for everything. Just because you fail once, doesn't mean you're gonna fail at everything. Keep trying, hold on, and always, always, always believe in yourself, because if you don't, then who will, sweetie? So keep your head high, keep your chin up, and most importantly, keep smiling, because life's a beautiful thing and there's so much to smile about.
Obscurity and Innocence, twin-sisters, escape temptations which would pierce their gossamer armour in contact with the world.
There are as many kinds of love as there are races. A great tall German, learned, virtuous, phlegmatic, said one day: "Souls are sisters, fallen from heaven, who all at once recognize and run to meet each other." A little dry Frenchman, hot-blooded, witty, lively, replied to him: "You are right; you can always find shoes to fit."--_Taine._
O men with sisters dear, O men with mothers and wives, It is not linen you 're wearing out, But human creatures' lives!
Say to the seceded States, "Wayward sisters, depart in peace."
I like to think (it has to be!) of a cybernetic ecology where we are free of our labors and joined back to nature, returned to our mammal brothers and sisters, and all watched over by machines of loving grace.
The young gentleman, according to Fates and Destinies and such odd sayings, the Sisters Three and such branches of learning, is indeed deceased; or, as you would say in plain terms, gone to heaven.
And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Philippians 4:8, NLT
"Nietzsche says that we will live the same life, over and over again. God -- I'll have to sit through the Ice Capades again." -- Woody Allen's character in "Hannah and Her Sisters"
"If Jesus came back today, and saw what was going on in his name, he'd never stop throwing up." -- Max Von Sydow's character in "Hannah and Her Sisters"
When your life is a leaf that the seasons tear off and condemn They will bind you with love that is graceful and green as a stem. -- Leonard Cohen, "Sisters of Mercy"
Nietzsche says that we will live the same life, over and over again. God -- I'll have to sit through the Ice Capades again. -- Woody Allen, "Hannah and Her Sisters"
The sisters replied candidly and fully enough to their mother's impatient questions on her return. They said, in the first place, that nothing particular had happened since her departure; that the prince had been, and that Aglaya had kept him waiting a long while before she appeared--half an hour, at least; that she had then come in, and immediately asked the prince to have a game of chess; that the prince did not know the game, and Aglaya had beaten him easily; that she had been in a wonderfully merry mood, and had laughed at the prince, and chaffed him so unmercifully that one was quite sorry to see his wretched
1:4. And his sons went, and made a feast by houses, every one in his day. And sending, they called their three sisters, to eat and drink with them.
"I tell you, my dear fellow, Aglaya is such an extraordinary, such a self-willed, fantastical little creature, you wouldn't believe it! Every high quality, every brilliant trait of heart and mind, are to be found in her, and, with it all, so much caprice and mockery, such wild fancies--indeed, a little devil! She has just been laughing at her mother to her very face, and at her sisters, and at Prince S., and everybody--and of course she always laughs at me! You know I love the child--I love her even when she laughs at me, and I believe the wild little creature has a special fondness for me for that very reason. She is fonder of me than any of the others. I dare swear she has had a good laugh at _you_ before now! You were having a quiet talk just now, I observed, after all the thunder and lightning upstairs. She was sitting with you just as though there had been no row at all."
If thou indeed have purposed to return, Noble Achilles! and such wrath retain'st That thou art altogether fixt to leave The fleet a prey to desolating fires, How then, my son! shall I at Troy abide Forlorn of thee? When Peleus, hoary Chief, Sent thee to Agamemnon, yet a child, Unpractised in destructive fight, nor less Of councils ignorant, the schools in which Great minds are form'd, he bade me to the war Attend thee forth, that I might teach thee all, Both elocution and address in arms. Me therefore shalt thou not with my consent Leave here, my son! no, not would Jove himself Promise me, reaping smooth this silver beard, To make me downy-cheek'd as in my youth; Such as when erst from Hellas beauty-famed I fled, escaping from my father's wrath Amyntor, son of Ormenus, who loved A beauteous concubine, and for her sake Despised his wife and persecuted me. My mother suppliant at my knees, with prayer Perpetual importuned me to embrace The damsel first, that she might loathe my sire. I did so; and my father soon possess'd With hot suspicion of the fact, let loose A storm of imprecation, in his rage Invoking all the Furies to forbid That ever son of mine should press his knees. Tartarian Jove and dread Persephone Fulfill'd his curses; with my pointed spear I would have pierced his heart, but that my wrath Some Deity assuaged, suggesting oft What shame and obloquy I should incur, Known as a parricide through all the land. At length, so treated, I resolved to dwell No longer in his house. My friends, indeed, And all my kindred compass'd me around With much entreaty, wooing me to stay; Oxen and sheep they slaughter'd, many a plump Well-fatted brawn extended in the flames, And drank the old man's vessels to the lees. Nine nights continual at my side they slept, While others watch'd by turns, nor were the fires Extinguish'd ever, one, beneath the porch Of the barr'd hall, and one that from within The vestibule illumed my chamber door. But when the tenth dark night at length arrived, Sudden the chamber doors bursting I flew That moment forth, and unperceived alike By guards and menial woman, leap'd the wall. Through spacious Hellas flying thence afar, I came at length to Phthia the deep-soil'd, Mother of flocks, and to the royal house Of Peleus; Peleus with a willing heart Receiving, loved me as a father loves His only son, the son of his old age, Inheritor of all his large demesnes. He made me rich; placed under my control A populous realm, and on the skirts I dwelt Of Phthia, ruling the Dolopian race. Thee from my soul, thou semblance of the Gods, I loved, and all illustrious as thou art, Achilles! such I made thee. For with me, Me only, would'st thou forth to feast abroad, Nor would'st thou taste thy food at home, 'till first I placed thee on my knees, with my own hand Thy viands carved and fed thee, and the wine Held to thy lips; and many a time, in fits Of infant frowardness, the purple juice Rejecting thou hast deluged all my vest, And fill'd my bosom. Oh, I have endured Much, and have also much perform'd for thee, Thus purposing, that since the Gods vouchsaf'd No son to me, thyself shouldst be my son, Godlike Achilles! who shouldst screen perchance From a foul fate my else unshelter'd age. Achilles! bid thy mighty spirit down. Thou shouldst not be thus merciless; the Gods, Although more honorable, and in power And virtue thy superiors, are themselves Yet placable; and if a mortal man Offend them by transgression of their laws, Libation, incense, sacrifice, and prayer, In meekness offer'd turn their wrath away. Prayers are Jove's daughters, wrinkled, lame, slant-eyed, Which though far distant, yet with constant pace Follow Offence. Offence, robust of limb, And treading firm the ground, outstrips them all, And over all the earth before them runs Hurtful to man. They, following, heal the hurt. Received respectfully when they approach, They help us, and our prayers hear in return. But if we slight, and with obdurate heart Resist them, to Saturnian Jove they cry Against us, supplicating that Offence May cleave to us for vengeance of the wrong. Thou, therefore, O Achilles! honor yield To Jove's own daughters, vanquished, as the brave Have ofttimes been, by honor paid to thee. For came not Agamemnon as he comes With gifts in hand, and promises of more Hereafter; burn'd his anger still the same, I would not move thee to renounce thy own, And to assist us, howsoe'er distress'd. But now, not only are his present gifts Most liberal, and his promises of more Such also, but these Princes he hath sent Charged with entreaties, thine especial friends, And chosen for that cause, from all the host. Slight not their embassy, nor put to shame Their intercession. We confess that once Thy wrath was unreprovable and just. Thus we have heard the heroes of old times Applauded oft, whose anger, though intense, Yet left them open to the gentle sway Of reason and conciliatory gifts. I recollect an ancient history, Which, since all here are friends, I will relate. The brave Ætolians and Curetes met Beneath the walls of Calydon, and fought With mutual slaughter; the Ætolian powers In the defence of Calydon the fair, And the Curetes bent to lay it waste: That strife Diana of the golden throne Kindled between them, with resentment fired That Oeneus had not in some fertile spot The first fruits of his harvest set apart To her; with hecatombs he entertained All the Divinities of heaven beside, And her alone, daughter of Jove supreme, Or through forgetfulness, or some neglect, Served not; omission careless and profane! She, progeny of Jove, Goddess shaft-arm'd, A savage boar bright-tusk'd in anger sent, Which haunting Oeneus' fields much havoc made. Trees numerous on the earth in heaps he cast Uprooting them, with all their blossoms on. But Meleager, Oeneus' son, at length Slew him, the hunters gathering and the hounds Of numerous cities; for a boar so vast Might not be vanquish'd by the power of few, And many to their funeral piles he sent. Then raised Diana clamorous dispute, And contest hot between them, all alike, Curetes and Ætolians fierce in arms The boar's head claiming, and his bristly hide. So long as warlike Meleager fought, Ætolia prosper'd, nor with all their powers Could the Curetes stand before the walls. But when resentment once had fired the heart Of Meleager, which hath tumult oft Excited in the breasts of wisest men, (For his own mother had his wrath provoked Althæa) thenceforth with his wedded wife He dwelt, fair Cleopatra, close retired. She was Marpessa's daughter, whom she bore To Idas, bravest warrior in his day Of all on earth. He fear'd not 'gainst the King Himself Apollo, for the lovely nymph Marpessa's sake, his spouse, to bend his bow. Her, therefore, Idas and Marpessa named Thenceforth Alcyone, because the fate Of sad Alcyone Marpessa shared, And wept like her, by Phoebus forced away. Thus Meleager, tortured with the pangs Of wrath indulged, with Cleopatra dwelt, Vex'd that his mother cursed him; for, with grief Frantic, his mother importuned the Gods To avenge her slaughter'd brothers on his head. Oft would she smite the earth, while on her knees Seated, she fill'd her bosom with her tears, And call'd on Pluto and dread Proserpine To slay her son; nor vain was that request, But by implacable Erynnis heard Roaming the shades of Erebus. Ere long The tumult and the deafening din of war Roar'd at the gates, and all the batter'd towers Resounded. Then the elders of the town Dispatch'd the high-priests of the Gods to plead With Meleager for his instant aid, With strong assurances of rich reward. Where Calydon afforded fattest soil They bade him choose to his own use a farm Of fifty measured acres, vineyard half, And half of land commodious for the plow. Him Oeneus also, warrior grey with age, Ascending to his chamber, and his doors Smiting importunate, with earnest prayers Assay'd to soften, kneeling to his son. Nor less his sisters woo'd him to relent, Nor less his mother; but in vain; he grew Still more obdurate. His companions last, The most esteem'd and dearest of his friends, The same suit urged, yet he persisted still Relentless, nor could even they prevail. But when the battle shook his chamber-doors And the Curetes climbing the high towers Had fired the spacious city, then with tears The beauteous Cleopatra, and with prayers Assail'd him; in his view she set the woes Numberless of a city storm'd--the men Slaughter'd, the city burnt to dust, the chaste Matrons with all their children dragg'd away. That dread recital roused him, and at length Issuing, he put his radiant armor on. Thus Meleager, gratifying first His own resentment from a fatal day Saved the Ætolians, who the promised gift Refused him, and his toils found no reward. But thou, my son, be wiser; follow thou No demon who would tempt thee to a course Like his; occasion more propitious far Smiles on thee now, than if the fleet were fired. Come, while by gifts invited, and receive From all the host, the honors of a God; For shouldst thou, by no gifts induced, at last Enter the bloody field, although thou chase The Trojans hence, yet less shall be thy praise.
Elizabeth passed the chief of the night in her sister's room, and in the morning had the pleasure of being able to send a tolerable answer to the inquiries which she very early received from Mr. Bingley by a housemaid, and some time afterwards from the two elegant ladies who waited on his sisters. In spite of this amendment, however, she requested to have a note sent to Longbourn, desiring her mother to visit Jane, and form her own judgement of her situation. The note was immediately dispatched, and its contents as quickly complied with. Mrs. Bennet, accompanied by her two youngest girls, reached Netherfield soon after the family breakfast.
"Brother? Yes; at the distance of a thousand leagues! Sisters? Yes; slaving amongst strangers! I, wealthy--gorged with gold I never earned and do not merit! You, penniless! Famous equality and fraternisation! Close union! Intimate attachment!"
"My sisters, you see, have a pleasure in keeping you," said Mr. St. John, "as they would have a pleasure in keeping and cherishing a half-frozen bird, some wintry wind might have driven through their casement. I feel more inclination to put you in the way of keeping yourself, and shall endeavour to do so; but observe, my sphere is narrow. I am but the incumbent of a poor country parish: my aid must be of the humblest sort. And if you are inclined to despise the day of small things, seek some more efficient succour than such as I can offer."
Lydia was bid by her two eldest sisters to hold her tongue; but Mr. Collins, much offended, laid aside his book, and said:
The general sat still with a most preoccupied air. The sisters were looking very serious and did not speak a word, and Lizabetha Prokofievna did not know how to commence the conversation.
When the ladies returned to the drawing-room, there was little to be done but to hear Lady Catherine talk, which she did without any intermission till coffee came in, delivering her opinion on every subject in so decisive a manner, as proved that she was not used to have her judgement controverted. She inquired into Charlotte's domestic concerns familiarly and minutely, gave her a great deal of advice as to the management of them all; told her how everything ought to be regulated in so small a family as hers, and instructed her as to the care of her cows and her poultry. Elizabeth found that nothing was beneath this great lady's attention, which could furnish her with an occasion of dictating to others. In the intervals of her discourse with Mrs. Collins, she addressed a variety of questions to Maria and Elizabeth, but especially to the latter, of whose connections she knew the least, and who she observed to Mrs. Collins was a very genteel, pretty kind of girl. She asked her, at different times, how many sisters she had, whether they were older or younger than herself, whether any of them were likely to be married, whether they were handsome, where they had been educated, what carriage her father kept, and what had been her mother's maiden name? Elizabeth felt all the impertinence of her questions but answered them very composedly. Lady Catherine then observed,
"Don't talk to me about her, John: I told you not to go near her; she is not worthy of notice; I do not choose that either you or your sisters should associate with her."
"They have none of them much to recommend them," replied he; "they are all silly and ignorant like other girls; but Lizzy has something more of quickness than her sisters."
"And his sisters are called Diana and Mary Rivers?"
"Yes, my youngest is not sixteen. Perhaps _she_ is full young to be much in company. But really, ma'am, I think it would be very hard upon younger sisters, that they should not have their share of society and amusement, because the elder may not have the means or inclination to marry early. The last-born has as good a right to the pleasures of youth as the first. And to be kept back on _such_ a motive! I think it would not be very likely to promote sisterly affection or delicacy of mind."
The two sisters hurriedly went after her.
Then, touched by Combeferre's words, shaken by Enjolras' order, touched by Marius' entreaty, these heroic men began to denounce each other.--"It is true," said one young man to a full grown man, "you are the father of a family. Go."--"It is your duty rather," retorted the man, "you have two sisters whom you maintain."--And an unprecedented controversy broke forth. Each struggled to determine which should not allow himself to be placed at the door of the tomb.
She did at last extort from her father an acknowledgment that the horses were engaged. Jane was therefore obliged to go on horseback, and her mother attended her to the door with many cheerful prognostics of a bad day. Her hopes were answered; Jane had not been gone long before it rained hard. Her sisters were uneasy for her, but her mother was delighted. The rain continued the whole evening without intermission; Jane certainly could not come back.
All this was torture to me--refined, lingering torture. It kept up a slow fire of indignation and a trembling trouble of grief, which harassed and crushed me altogether. I felt how--if I were his wife, this good man, pure as the deep sunless source, could soon kill me, without drawing from my veins a single drop of blood, or receiving on his own crystal conscience the faintest stain of crime. Especially I felt this when I made any attempt to propitiate him. No ruth met my ruth. _He_ experienced no suffering from estrangement--no yearning after reconciliation; and though, more than once, my fast falling tears blistered the page over which we both bent, they produced no more effect on him than if his heart had been really a matter of stone or metal. To his sisters, meantime, he was somewhat kinder than usual: as if afraid that mere coldness would not sufficiently convince me how completely I was banished and banned, he added the force of contrast; and this I am sure he did not by force, but on principle.
"There, there, don't! Yes, I'll go before breakfastI'll be glad to. And leave my sisters with them?"
Jane looked at Elizabeth with surprise and concern. She knew but little of their meeting in Derbyshire, and therefore felt for the awkwardness which must attend her sister, in seeing him almost for the first time after receiving his explanatory letter. Both sisters were uncomfortable enough. Each felt for the other, and of course for themselves; and their mother talked on, of her dislike of Mr. Darcy, and her resolution to be civil to him only as Mr. Bingley's friend, without being heard by either of them. But Elizabeth had sources of uneasiness which could not be suspected by Jane, to whom she had never yet had courage to shew Mrs. Gardiner's letter, or to relate her own change of sentiment towards him. To Jane, he could be only a man whose proposals she had refused, and whose merit she had undervalued; but to her own more extensive information, he was the person to whom the whole family were indebted for the first of benefits, and whom she regarded herself with an interest, if not quite so tender, at least as reasonable and just as what Jane felt for Bingley. Her astonishment at his coming--at his coming to Netherfield, to Longbourn, and voluntarily seeking her again, was almost equal to what she had known on first witnessing his altered behaviour in Derbyshire.
"No, my dear fellow, it is not at all incredible. You saw the child pass through the Rue Richelieu last year, who amused himself with killing his brothers and sisters by sticking pins in their ears while they slept. The generation who follow us are very precocious."