Socrates. "The disgrace begins when a man writes not well, but badly."
Hmmm. If I take little else from Phaedrus, this statement shall live with me the rest of my days.
Not the best time to hear it, as my own self doubts are in the high point of their normal cycle. But words to take to heart and if possible, turn them around to the good. For as Boethius had said, the misfortune teaches and is therefore of great benefit to the wise man. I’m also beginning to question my grammatical skills, and as with Faulkner’s great lesson on the tenses and differences of the verbs lay and lie, bad and badly seem to be suddenly mixed up and misused in my mind. Even after understanding the principle and rules, within a very, very short time, I have forgotten it again.
Black habits and clunking rosaries echo in memory; haunt me still.
But on to see what Socrates has to say, as he seems to have completed his discourse on the subject of love and moved onto the oratory and written speech patterns of the time.
The Lost Children: A Charity Anthology