When Dr Watson first describes the character of Sherlock Holmes, he presents the man who is soon to become his friend as a complete philistine where literature and philosophy are concerned.

Nellie Cashman (c. 1845–1925), "Angel of the Mining Camps," wore many hats: nurse, businesswoman, restaurateur, Catholic philanthropist.

"Like fighting an addiction, being an antiracist requires persistent self-awareness, constant self-criticism, and regular self-examination," says Ibram X. Kendi, author of best-selling "How to Be an Antiracist".

On the life and works of the master humorist.

These stories are all about unsupervised children.

Both Aristotle and Saint Thomas Aquinas speak of the debts of gratitude we owe to others — to God, to our parents, to our city or nation — anyone from whom we receive benefits.

According to Hazlitt, if we wish to know the force of human genius, we have only to read Shakespeare, but if we wish to know the futility of human learning, we have only to read his commentators.

I have another friend who thanks me to this day for introducing him to Sigrid Undset.

I have in my study a silver vase holding four peacock plumes and several parrot feathers. 

The scene is the Basilica of Saint Mark, in Milan, in 1874.