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proverb

(Encyclopedia)proverb, short statement of wisdom or advice that has passed into general use. More homely than aphorisms, proverbs generally refer to common experience and are often expressed in metaphor, alliterati...

Ephesians

(Encyclopedia)Ephesians ĭfēˈzhənz [key], letter of the New Testament, written, according to tradition, by St. Paul to the Christians of Ephesus from his captivity at Rome (c.a.d. 60). There is ground for believ...

Ozick, Cynthia

(Encyclopedia)Ozick, Cynthia, 1928–, American writer, b. New York City, grad. New York Univ. (B.A., 1949), Ohio State Univ. (M.A., 1950). Her fiction, written with high intelligence, elegant incisiveness, and sha...

Kirstein, Lincoln

(Encyclopedia)Kirstein, Lincoln kûrˈstīn, kĭrˈ– [key], 1907–96, American dance and theater executive and writer, b. Rochester, N.Y. One of the most significant figures in 20th cent. American ballet, Kirste...

Taylor, Jeremy

(Encyclopedia)Taylor, Jeremy, 1613–67, English bishop and theological and devotional writer. He was distinguished as a preacher and as the author of some of the most noted religious works in English. After comple...

Sontag, Susan

(Encyclopedia)Sontag, Susan sŏnˈtäg [key], 1933–2004, American writer and critic, b. New York City. She grew up in Arizona and California, studied philosophy at the Univ. of Chicago, Harvard, and Oxford, absor...

Pali canon

(Encyclopedia)Pali canon päˈlē [key], sacred literature of Buddhism. The texts in the Pali canon are the earliest Buddhist sources, and for Theravada Buddhists, who claim to conserve the original teachings of th...

Underground Railroad

(Encyclopedia)Underground Railroad, in U.S. history, loosely organized system for helping fugitive slaves escape to Canada or to areas of safety in free states. It was run by local groups of Northern abolitionists,...

Proust, Marcel

(Encyclopedia)Proust, Marcel pro͞ost [key], 1871–1922, French novelist, b. Paris. He is one of the great literary figures of the modern age. Born to wealthy bourgeois parents, he suffered delicate health as a c...

Pasternak, Boris Leonidovich

(Encyclopedia)Pasternak, Boris Leonidovich păsˈtərnăkˌ, Rus. bərēsˈ lyāˌənyēˈdəvĭch pəstyĭrnäkˈ [key], 1890–1960, Russian poet and translator. Pasternak became an international symbol of the in...

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