The couldn't bear it

Thomas McCauley, English historian and essayist, was born on this day in 1800. He wrote:

"The Puritan hated bear-baiting, not because it gave pain to the bear, but because it gave pleasure to the spectators."

The play is not the thing

October 10, 1930 -- PLaywright Harold Pinter born.

"A good many inconveniences attend playgoing in any large cities, but the greatest of these is usually the play itself." -- Kenneth Tynan.



October 11, 1885 -- French essayist Francois Mauriac born. He wrote:

"What I fear is not being forgotten after my death, but, rather, not being enough forgotten."

More birthdays missed

Rough week -- hospital stay, family travails. To catch up:

July 11: American humorist/essayist E. B. White was born July 11, 1899. He wrote:

"Our idea of a cultured person is a person who doesn't want to live in a community of cultured persons."



July 12: Henry David Thoreau was born on July 12, 1817. He wrote in Walden:

"I have lived some thirty years on this planet, and I have yet to hear the first syllable of valuable or even earnest advice from my seniors."



July 13: Julius Caesar born in 100 BC.

"So long as men worship the Caesars and Napoleons, Caesars and Napoleons will duly rise and make them miserable." -- Aldous Huxley.

July 14: Gerald Ford was born July 14, 1913.

"Gerry Ford was a nice guy, but he played too much football with his helmet off." -- Lyndon B. Johnson.

July 15: Rembrandt was born on this day in 1606.

"That which probably hears more stupidities than anything else in the world is a painting in a museum." -- Jules de Goncourt.