The first demand any work of art makes upon us is surrender. Look. Listen Receive. Get yourself out of the way.

—C. S. Lewis, An Experiment in Criticism

Man was not a part of nature, he had raised himself above nature, and the more he thought about it, the more it seemed to him impious, even though he didn't believe in God, the more it seemed to him anthropologically impious, to scatter the ashes of a human being on the fields, the rivers or the sea. A human being had a conscience, a unique, individual, and irreplaceable conscience, and thus deserved a monument, a stele, or at least an inscription—well, something that asserts and bears witness to his existence for future centuries.

—Michel Houellenbecq, The Map and the Territory

The only guiding principle in this paradigm is consent. You, a free agent, can do anything you want, as long as it does not compromise the free agency of another. Let me be clear: consent is crucial. An emphasis on the importance of consent is perhaps the one good feature of this paradigm. The problem is not that consent is a primary value in this view; the problem is that it's the only value. Consent should be the starting point rather than the end of the discussion about sexual morality. It is not enough to say that the best we can expect from sex, morally speaking, is that it's not rape.

—Abigail Favale, The Genesis of Gender

The garrison of Ross was allowed to march away with their arms, bag and baggage, drums beating, colors flying, bullet in mouth, bandoliers full of powder, and matches lighted at both ends.

—Maurice Ashley, The Greatness of Oliver Cromwell

The surest way of training people to violate the rights of the living is to set at nought the wishes of the dead.

—Alexis de Tocqueville, The Old Régime and the French Revolution

Improvising in western music is not a new thing; it just became unfashionable in nineteenth-century classical music. Back in the eighteenth century it was very popular: one of Bach's most well-known pieces, the Brandenburg Concerto No. 3, consists of three movements but only two of them are written out in full. The written music for the middle movement is just two chords long—which would only last about ten seconds. It is possible, of course, that Bach was called away in the middle of his writing to take part in the birth or, indeed, conception, of one of his twenty children, and forgot to finish it. The more traditional historical view is that the second movement would consist of a three-minute viola solo by Bach who would then nod at the rest of the band—and they would finish off with these two chords. Nowadays, in most recordings of this piece, the musicians chicken out on the improvisation and just play the two chords—and who can blame them? I certainly wouldn't want any of my own improvised drivel sandwiched between two pieces by Bach.

—John Powell, How Music Works

But alas, what a stupid creature I am! I have probably been drawn aside by my personal gratitude for the special kindness he showed us, away from his general and indescribable goodness and greatness and nobleness.

---Notker the Stammerer, The Deeds of Charlemagne

Alaric died at Consentia before the end of the year; his followers buried him in the Basentus, and diverted its waters into another channel, that his body might never be desecrated.

---J. B. Bury, The Invasion of Europe by the Barbarians

The commander-in-chief of the enemy forces, when he perceived that the Roman Emperor [Romanus IV] had fallen into his hands, instead of exulting in his triumph, was quite overcome by his extraordinary success. He celebrated his victory with a moderation that was beyond all expectation. Offering his condolences to the captive, he shared his own table with him, treated him as an honored guest, gave him a bodyguard, loosed from their chains those prisoners he cared to name and set them free. Finally, he restored liberty to Romanus himself also, and, after making a treaty of friendship and after receiving from him assurances on oath that he would loyally abide by the agreements they had made, sent him back to Roman territory, with as numerous an escort and bodyguard as anyone could wish for.

---Michael Psellus, Fourteen Byzantine Rulers