News item: The Rev. Jesse Jackson disclosed that he fathered a daughter born out of wedlock 20 months ago to a woman who wrote a book about him and who worked in Operation Push’s Washington office. He took responsibility, said he was sorry and announced that he would be leaving the public arena for a while.
Words and definitions from the Oxford Dictionary. Thoughts from Bartlett’s “Familiar Quotations”:
LUST. To have a strong, incessant or inordinate desire.
“The best way were to entertain him with hope, till the wicked fire of lust have melted him in his own grease.” Shakespeare, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Act II
ADULTERY. Violation of the marriage bed.
“The psychology of adultery has been falsified by conventional morals, which assume, in monogamous countries, that attraction to one person cannot coexist with a serious affection for another. Everybody knows that this is untrue.” Bertrand Russell, “Marriage and Morals” (1929,) Chapter 16
LOVE CHILD. A child born out of wedlock.
“Love conquers all things; let us, too, surrender to love.” Virgil, 70-19 B.C.
DECEIT. The action or practice of deceiving; concealment of the truth in order to mislead; deception, fraud, cheating, false dealing.
“There is a smile of love,
“And there is a smile of deceit,
“And there is a smile of smiles,
“In which these two smiles meet.”
William Blake, “The Smile,” 1805
Trap. A contrivance set for catching game or noxious animals.
“The rat is in the trap, it is in the trap,
And attacking heaven and earth with a mouthful of screeches like torn tin.”
Ted Hughes, “The Rat’s Dance,” 1967
Atonement. Propitiation of an offended or injured person, by reparation of wrongs or injury; amends, satisfaction, expiation.
“We acknowledge and bewail our manifold sins and wickedness, Which we, from time to time, most grievously have committed, by thought, word and deed.” From The Book of Common Prayer, General Confession
Trust. To have faith or confidence in, to rely or depend upon.
“A man always has two reasons for what he does–a good one and the real one.” John Pierpont Morgan
Contrite. Crushed or broken in spirit by a sense of sin, and so brought to complete penitence.
“The man hath penance done, and penance more will do.” Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner,” 1798
Human. Of, belonging to, or characteristic of men.
“Every man bears the whole stamp of the human condition.” Michel Eyquem de Montaigne, Essays, 1580
Forgive. To give up, to cease to harbor resentment, wrath. “Only the brave know how to forgive . . . A coward never forgave. It is not in his nature.” Laurence Sterne, Sermons, Vol. 1, 1760
