Proverbs of the day: Revenge is a dish best served cold. Two wrongs don’t make a right. Turn the other cheek.
Suppose someone has harmed you, what will you do: start plotting revenge or forgive and forget?
Jonathan Swift decided to have revenge on John Patridge by publicly announcing that the stars predict the latter's death on 29.03.1708. Everybody started waiting for it. How did it all end?
Read our story to find it out and to learn the three proverbs about revenge and forgiveness.
Jonathan Swift, the author of Gulliver's Travels, was ordained as a priest at the age of 27 and all his adult life safeguarded the interests of the Anglican Church and engaged in its daily duties. Having learnt that John Partridge, an influential astrologer, treated the Church of England with disrespect in his astrological almanac, Jonathan Swift decided to discredit his name in revenge.
At the beginning of 1708 he published ‘Predictions for the Year 1708’ adopting the pseudonym of Isaac Bickerstaff. The front page of the book stated its purpose – to prevent people from being deceived by ‘vulgar almanac makers’. The section ‘predictions of deaths of notable individuals’ said that the stars promised the imminent death of John Partridge on the 29th of March at 11 at night of ‘a raging fever’. Though John Partridge immediately issued a reply saying that Bickerstaff was nothing but a cheat, a lot of people started waiting for the 29th of March eager to find out who would turn out to be right, Partridge or Bickerstaff.
On the 29th of March Swift published ‘The Accomplishment of the First of Mr. Bickerstaff’s Predictions’ where Partridge’s death was confirmed, a poem expressing deep sadness over the tragic event was published next. Even Partridge’s wife was reported to have admitted that her husband had ‘neither life nor soul’. So convinced had most people become of Partridge’s death that whenever they saw him, they kindly informed him that he looked exactly like the poor dead astrologer. The result of Swift’s hoax was that Partridge had to stop publishing his astrological almanac and his career as an astrologer was wrecked.
This story is a good illustration of the proverb ‘REVENGE IS A DISH BEST SERVED COLD’. According to this proverb, if you want to get even with someone who has done wrong to you, don’t do it on impulse or without careful planning. Wait, calculate what effect your actions will have, deal your enemy a blow when it is least expected.
Though the idea of revenge has occupied the minds of many people since the time immemorial, not everyone has looked favorably on it. Hence, two other famous sayings: TWO WRONGS DON’T MAKE A RIGHT and TURN THE OTHER CHEEK. Both of them warn you against responding with a bad action to the harm done to you. Someone has lied to you or unfairly criticized you, don’t descend to their level because two bad actions (wrongs) will hardly result in anything good (a right). You have been slapped on the face, don’t get aggressive, turn the other cheek, thus you might set a good example to someone who is unkind and hostile.
What do you think: is revenge sweet or should we resist evil by behaving righteously and turning the other cheek?
#jonathanswift #revenge #forgiveandforget #turntheothercheek #englishhistory #englishproverbs #proverbs #idiomaticlanguage #advancedvocabulary #vocabulary #interestingfacts #astrology #astrologicalpredictions #isaacbickerstaff #johnpartridge #read #readenglish #interestingstories #stories #storiesinenglish #englishsayings #RTENGbooksproverbs
Image Credit: Disclaimer
This blog includes only texts written by us but we use images we have found on the web, mostly in google pictures. Should you find an image of yours and want it to be removed, or if you would like us to give you credit as the author of this image, please let us know and we will be happy to do it.
Jonathan Swift decided to have revenge on John Patridge by publicly announcing that the stars predict the latter's death on 29.03.1708. Everybody started waiting for it. How did it all end?
Read our story to find it out and to learn the three proverbs about revenge and forgiveness.
Jonathan Swift, the author of Gulliver's Travels, was ordained as a priest at the age of 27 and all his adult life safeguarded the interests of the Anglican Church and engaged in its daily duties. Having learnt that John Partridge, an influential astrologer, treated the Church of England with disrespect in his astrological almanac, Jonathan Swift decided to discredit his name in revenge.
At the beginning of 1708 he published ‘Predictions for the Year 1708’ adopting the pseudonym of Isaac Bickerstaff. The front page of the book stated its purpose – to prevent people from being deceived by ‘vulgar almanac makers’. The section ‘predictions of deaths of notable individuals’ said that the stars promised the imminent death of John Partridge on the 29th of March at 11 at night of ‘a raging fever’. Though John Partridge immediately issued a reply saying that Bickerstaff was nothing but a cheat, a lot of people started waiting for the 29th of March eager to find out who would turn out to be right, Partridge or Bickerstaff.
On the 29th of March Swift published ‘The Accomplishment of the First of Mr. Bickerstaff’s Predictions’ where Partridge’s death was confirmed, a poem expressing deep sadness over the tragic event was published next. Even Partridge’s wife was reported to have admitted that her husband had ‘neither life nor soul’. So convinced had most people become of Partridge’s death that whenever they saw him, they kindly informed him that he looked exactly like the poor dead astrologer. The result of Swift’s hoax was that Partridge had to stop publishing his astrological almanac and his career as an astrologer was wrecked.
This story is a good illustration of the proverb ‘REVENGE IS A DISH BEST SERVED COLD’. According to this proverb, if you want to get even with someone who has done wrong to you, don’t do it on impulse or without careful planning. Wait, calculate what effect your actions will have, deal your enemy a blow when it is least expected.
Though the idea of revenge has occupied the minds of many people since the time immemorial, not everyone has looked favorably on it. Hence, two other famous sayings: TWO WRONGS DON’T MAKE A RIGHT and TURN THE OTHER CHEEK. Both of them warn you against responding with a bad action to the harm done to you. Someone has lied to you or unfairly criticized you, don’t descend to their level because two bad actions (wrongs) will hardly result in anything good (a right). You have been slapped on the face, don’t get aggressive, turn the other cheek, thus you might set a good example to someone who is unkind and hostile.
What do you think: is revenge sweet or should we resist evil by behaving righteously and turning the other cheek?
#jonathanswift #revenge #forgiveandforget #turntheothercheek #englishhistory #englishproverbs #proverbs #idiomaticlanguage #advancedvocabulary #vocabulary #interestingfacts #astrology #astrologicalpredictions #isaacbickerstaff #johnpartridge #read #readenglish #interestingstories #stories #storiesinenglish #englishsayings #RTENGbooksproverbs
Image Credit: Disclaimer
This blog includes only texts written by us but we use images we have found on the web, mostly in google pictures. Should you find an image of yours and want it to be removed, or if you would like us to give you credit as the author of this image, please let us know and we will be happy to do it.
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