6. History, Ancient and Modern: Mankind, Military, and Combat

(1) The most famous abdication in recent history came in 1936, when Britain’s Edward VIII abdicated the throne because the British establishment would not permit him to marry Wallis Simpson, an American divorcee.

(1) Napoleon, pressured to abdicate by his marshals in 1814, declared, “Why is it always Wellington?”— Jeremy Black, Military History 22, issue 3, Spring 2010, p. 66

Collocates to: duties, position, responsibilities, throne, office

(1) “Gadhafi’s government had lost all legitimacy and lied when it declared Friday it would abide by a cease-fire.” —Associated Press, 2011

(1) “I am not liked as a President by the politicians in office, in the press, or in Congress. But I am content to abide the judgment the sober second thought of the people.” —President Rutherford B. Hayes

(2) hold; remain; stay; stand fast; stand for

(3) await; to remain with someone; to stay

(2) foreswear; give up one’s rights under oath; profess to abandon; renounce; reject

(1),(2) Foreign-born individuals who want to become U.S. citizens must take an oath of allegiance in which they swear to absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty.

(2) bring an end to; cancel; close down; do away with; put an end to; stop

(1),(2) “Educate your children to self-control, to the habit of holding passion and prejudice and evil tendencies subject to an upright and reasoning will and you have done much to abolish misery from their future and crimes from society.” —Benjamin Franklin

(1), (2) “The world is very different now. For man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life. And yet the same revolutionary beliefs for which our forebears fought are still at issue around the globe—the belief that the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state, but from the hand of God.” —John F. Kennedy, presidential inaugural address, 20 January 1961

(1), (2) “The theory of Communism may be summed up in one sentence: Abolish all private property.” —Karl Marx

Antithesis: “Abolish plutocracy if you would abolish poverty. As millionaires increase, pauperism grows; the more millionaires, the more paupers.” —President Rutherford B. Hayes

(2) be plentiful; be fully supplied; be rich and abundant; have plenty of; proliferate

(1),(2) “Every wise, just, and mild government, by rendering the condition of its subjects easy and secure, will always abound most in people, as well as in commodities and riches.”—David Hume, Scottish philosopher, historian, economist, and essayist, (1711–1776)

Antithesis: “A faithful man will abound with blessings, But he who makes haste to be rich will not go unpunished.” —Bible

(1) Do not abrogate that responsibility.

(2) the repeal of a law, treaty, or contract, either by mutual agreement or unilaterally

Collocates to: agreements, contracts, duty and honor, freedom, treaty, responsibility, rights

Collocates to: altitude, culture, climate, confinement, levels, surroundings, temperature, weather

(1) A bureaucracy’s original mission is to accrete money and power beyond the voter’s intent.

(1) As newly formed planets form and accrete disk material and grow, they get into a gravitational tug-of-war with other celestial bodies.

(1) “As immigration grew in the late 1980s and 1990s, federal targeted assistance programs to acculturate and resettle newcomers did not keep pace with the increased need.” —Sharon Keigher, “America’s Most Cruel Xenophobia,” Health & Social Work 22, issue 3, August 1997, p. 232–237

(1) The UN will administer the country following the abdication of the monarch.

(1) “In a free society, the state does not administer the affairs of men. It administers justice among men who conduct their own affairs.” —Walter Lippman, American public intellectual, writer, reporter, and political commentator (1889–1974)

(1) A number of Hollywood personalities attempt to agitate and bring about change, which is a job many have little or no experience in.

(1) “‘Organize, agitate, educate,’ must be our war cry.” —Susan B. Anthony

(2) exert oneself continuously, vigorously, and even forcefully to gain an end or engage in a crusade for a certain cause or idea

(3) change the arrangement or position of

Collocates to: change, government, groups, issues, masses, movement

Repetition: “Nothing can hold Me up or agitate Me or cast a shadow on Me, come in this Human form, be certain of that.” —Sir Sathya Sai Baba, Indian guru, spiritual figure, mystic, choreographer, philanthropist, and educator (1926–2011)

(1) Great Britain has allied itself with America in many wars and conflicts.

(2) unite or connect in a personal relationship, as in friendship or marriage

(1) “Yes, Americanism evolves, and by all means let’s change our minds when we ought to.” —David Gelernter, “What Is the American Creed?” Wall Street Journal, 2 July 2012

(1) It has the advantage of a side wing, ideal for use as a guest annex.

(2) demolish; destroy completely; put out of existence

(1), (2) Annihilate opposition rather than simply defeat it.

(3) consider or cause to be of no importance or without effect; nullify

Parallelism: “By annihilating the desires, you annihilate the mind.” —Claude Adrien Helvetius, French philosopher (1715–1771)

Vivid imagery: “Try as you will, you cannot annihilate that eternal relic of the human heart, love.” —Victor Hugo, French poet, novelist, and dramatist (1802–1885)

(1) The British and French governments appeased Hitler and allowed the Nazi occupation of the Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia in 1938 without taking any action.

(1) “The Communist threat is a global one. Its successful advance in one sector threatens the destruction of every other sector. You cannot appease or otherwise surrender to communism in Asia without simultaneously undermining our efforts to halt its advance in Europe.” —Gen. Douglas MacArthur, farewell address to U.S. Congress, Washington, D.C., 19 April 1951

(2) overcome or allay

(3) cause to be more favorably inclined

(1) To balkanize refers to the political situation in the Balkans (c. 1878–1913) when the European section of the Ottoman Empire split up into small, warring nations.

(2) trade or exchange goods or services without using money

Antithesis: “It is a clear truth that those who every day barter away other men’s liberty will soon care little for their own.” —James Otis, lawyer in colonial Massachusetts, a member of the Massachusetts provincial assembly (1723–1785)

Metaphor: “Almost all of our relationships begin and most of them continue as forms of mutual exploitation, a mental or physical barter, to be terminated when one or both parties run out of goods.” —W. H. Auden, American poet, dramatist, and editor (1907–1973)

(1) If enough voters bullet vote, almost any voting system functions like a plurality voting system.

(1) The caucus steering group was elected.

Alliteration: “I have learned the difference between a cactus and a caucus. On a cactus, the pricks are on the outside.” —Morris K. Udall, American congressman (1922–1998)

Antithesis: “A sailing ship is no democracy; you don’t caucus a crew as to where you’ll go anymore than you inquire when they’d like to shorten sail.” —Sterling Hayden, American actor and author (1916–1986)

(1) The new CEO will not gain the support of the employees if he attempts to coerce their cooperation.

Antithesis: “A woman simply is, but a man must become. Masculinity is risky and elusive. It is achieved by a revolt from woman, and it is confirmed only by other men. Manhood coerced into sensitivity is no manhood at all.” —Camille Paglia, American author, teacher, and social critic (1947–)

Repetition: “A man has to learn that he cannot command things, but that he can command himself; that he cannot coerce the wills of others, but that he can mold and master his own will: and things serve him who serves truth; people seek guidance of him who is master of himself.” —James Allen, British philosophical writer (1864–1912)

(1) During the Cold War, the major powers determined that coexistence was preferable to the alternative, which could have been a nuclear holocaust.

Antithesis: “In economics, hope and faith coexist with great scientific pretension and also a deep desire for respectability.” —John Kenneth Galbraith

Antithesis: “The present and the past coexist, but the past shouldn’t be in flashback.” —Alain Resnais, French film director (1922–)

Parallelism: “The only alternative to coexistence is codestruction.” —Jawaharlal Nehru, Indian prime minister (1889–1964)

Repetition: “I think sometimes when children grow up, their parents grow up. Mine grew up with me. We coexist. I don’t try to change them anymore, and I don’t think they try to change me. We agree to disagree.” —Katy Perry, singer

(1) The court was made aware of the prosecution’s attempt to conspire to intimidate the defendant.

Metaphor: “Of all the causes which conspire to blind man’s erring judgment, and misguide the mind; What the weak head with strongest bias rules—is pride, the never-failing vice of fools.” —Alexander Pope, English poet (1688–1744)

Metaphor: “All deep, earnest thinking is but the intrepid effort of the soul to keep the open independence of her sea; while the wildest winds of heaven and earth conspire to cast her upon the treacherous, slavish shore.” —Herman Melville, American author (1819–1891); Moby-Dick in eds. Hershel Parker, G. Thomas Tanselle, and Harrison Hayford, The Writings of Herman Melville, Vol. 6 (1988), Chapter 23

Parallelism: “Where justice is denied, where poverty is enforced, where ignorance prevails, and where any one class is made to feel that society is an organized conspiracy to oppress, rob and degrade them, neither persons nor property will be safe.” —Fredrick Douglass

Simile: To conspire against one’s country is like an act of patricide.

(2) go on a crusade

Collocates to: cause, embark, launch, start, took, went

Metaphor: “Democracy is now going forth on a crusade against imperialism.” —Irving Babbitt, American academic and literary critic (1865–1923)

(1) “Although we cannot know whether politics will ultimately deradicalize violent groups, we do know that excluding them from the political process grants them power without responsibility.” —Condoleezza Rice, “Rethinking the National Interest,” Foreign Affairs 87, issue 4, July/August 2008, p. 2–26

(1) “Today, the biggest shocks for emerging economies are far more likely to be sudden shifts in capital flows, which destabilize because they threaten sudden and unwanted currency depreciation.” —Zanny Minton Beddoes, “From EMU to AMU?” Foreign Affairs 78, issue 4, July/August 1999, p. 8–13

(1) An abandonment of our established allies would seriously destabilize the world, especially the Middle East.

Alliteration: If you wish to destroy, devastate, and damage a community, all that needs to be done is simply to destabilize the social capital foundations.

Simile: To destabilize the family unit and expect no ramifications is like jack-hammering a building’s foundation and being surprised when it comes crashing down in the first tumult.

(1) “One hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. And so we’ve come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.” —Martin Luther King, “I Have a Dream,” 28 August 1963

Metaphor: “We all carry within us our places of exile, our crimes, and our ravages. But our task is not to unleash them on the world; it is to fight them in ourselves and in others.” —Albert Camus, French novelist, essayist, and playwright (1913–1960)

Repetition: “The Jewish people have been in exile for 2,000 years; they have lived in hundreds of countries, spoken hundreds of languages and still they kept their old language, Hebrew. They kept their Aramaic, later their Yiddish; they kept their books; they kept their faith.” —Isaac Bashevis Singer, Polish-born American writer (1904–1991)

Vivid imagery: “I know that men in exile feed on hopes.” —Aeschylus, Greek tragedian (525–456 B.C.); Agamemnon

(1) The U.S. will seek to extradite any who commits a crime in this country and attempts to avoid punishment by fleeing to another country.

(1) “For the Gulf States, perhaps no forage crop of which the available seed supply is relatively abundant exceeds the velvet bean in potential value. This legume possesses also the ability to make a crop when planted relatively late.” —David F. Houston, American politician

(2) divide unfairly and to one’s advantage

Collocates to: correction, drawn, reestablish, redistrict, voting bloc

Antithesis: “It’s the first case in which the redistricting was for a political gerrymander. It wasn’t a byproduct. It was the goal.” —Rolando Rios

(1) “America has its origins in a rebellion against arbitrary and pernicious taxation, and the framers wanted to make it extremely difficult to impose or raise taxes.” —David Gelernter, Wall Street Journal, Opinion, 2 July 2012

(1) “Wise teachers impart their knowledge; inept ones impose theirs.” —Leonard Roy Frank, American human rights activist (1932–)

Antithesis: “Do not impose on others what you yourself do not desire.” —Confucius, China’s most famous teacher, philosopher, and political theorist (551–479 B.C.)

Antithesis: “Our universities are so determined to impose tolerance that they’ll expel you for saying what you think and never notice the irony.” —John Perry Barlow, American poet and essayist (1947–)

Metaphor: “He who has suffered you to impose on him knows you.” —William Blake, English mystic, poet, painter, and engraver (1757–1827)

Parallelism: “If you haven’t the strength to impose your own terms upon life, you must accept the terms it offers you.” —T. S. Eliot, American-born English editor, playwright, poet, and critic (1888–1965)

(2) be placed or located between other things, or extend between spaces and events

(1), (2) “And then, of course, the joint decision of the United States and NATO to intervene in Kosovo and save those victims, those refugees, those who were uprooted by a man, whom I believe that because of his crimes, should be charged with crimes against humanity. But this time, the world was not silent. This time, we do respond. This time, we intervene.” —Elie Wiesel, The Perils of Indifference speech, 12 April 1999

(1) The U.S. has tried continually to jawbone the government of Pakistan to weed out Al-Qaida supporters within its military.

(2) “More Obamacare insanity: Sebelius’ shameless attempt to jawbone insurers on costs” (headline) —Andrea Tantaros, Daily News Staff Writer, 23 December 2010

Simile: “Alcatraz, the federal prison with a name like the blare of a trombone, is a black molar in the jawbone of the nation’s prison system.” —Thomas E. Gaddis, American author (1908–1984)

(1) “Every good newspaper is muckraking, to some degree. It’s part of our job. Where there’s muck, we ought to rake it.” —James P. Cannon, American Trotskyist and a leader of the Socialist Workers Party (1890–1974)

Parallelism: “We muckraked, not because we hated our world, but because we loved it. We were not hopeless, we were not cynical, we were not bitter.” —Ray Stannard Baker, also known by pen name David Grayson, American journalist and author (1870–1946)

(2) make it possible through a specific action or lack of action for something to happen

Antithesis: “The pursuit of truth does not permit violence on one’s opponent.” —Mahatma Gandhi, Indian philosopher (1869–1948)

Metaphor: “Bring your desires down to your present means. Increase them only when your increased means permit.” —Aristotle, ancient Greek philosopher, scientist, and physician (384 B.C.–22 B.C.)

Repetition: “I called for reinforcements but was informed that reinforcements were not available. I made clear that if not permitted to destroy the enemy built-up bases north of the Yalu, if not permitted to utilize the friendly Chinese Force of some 600,000 men on Formosa, if not permitted to blockade the China coast to prevent the Chinese Reds from getting succor from without, and if there were to be no hope of major reinforcements, the position of the command from the military standpoint forbade victory.” —Gen. Douglas MacArthur, farewell address to the U.S. Congress, 19 April 1951

Vivid imagery: “Once you permit those who are convinced of their own superior rightness to censor and silence and suppress those who hold contrary opinions, just at that moment the citadel has been surrendered.” —Archibald MacLeish, American poet and critic (1892–1982)

(2) penalty for wrongdoing

(1) Congress passed a bill to create sanctions on any country that suppressed free speech.

(3) give authority or permission to

Metaphor: “I yield to no one in my devotion to this great League of Nations, but not even for this will I destroy that smaller but older league of which my own country was the birthplace, and of which it remains the center. Beware how you so draw tight the bonds, how you so pile obligation on obligation and sanction on sanction, lest at last you find that you are not living nations but dead states.” —Sir (Joseph) Austen Chamberlain, speech to the League of Nations Assembly, 9 September 1919

Antithesis: “The president has sanctioned greed at the cost of compassion.”

(2) contribute to the progress or growth or improve; make headway; march on; overture; pass on; progress; promote; raise; set ahead; upgrade

(1), (2) “So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.” —President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, first presidential inaugural speech, 4 March 1933

Antithesis: “You can’t say civilizations don’t advance ... in every war, they kill you in a new way.” —Mark Twain

Metaphor: “The difficulties you meet will resolve themselves as you advance. Proceed, and light will dawn, and shine with increasing clearness on your path.” —Jim Rohn, American speaker and author (1930–2009)

Parallelism: “Why should we be frightened? No people who have ever lived on this earth have fought harder, paid a higher price for freedom, or done more to advance the dignity of man than the living Americans, those Americans living in this land today.” —President Ronald Reagan (1911–2004)

Simile: “Learning is like rowing upstream; not to advance is to drop back.” —ancient Chinese proverb

(2) set to work on; take the initiative and go on the offensive

Alliteration: “Men rise from one ambition to another: first, they seek to secure themselves against attack, and then they attack others.” —Niccolo Machiavelli, Italian writer and statesman, Florentine patriot, and author of “The Prince” (1469–1527)

Antithesis: “Invincibility lies in the defense; the possibility of victory in the attack.” —Sun Tzu, Chinese general and author (b. 500 B.C.)

Metaphor: “Yesterday, December 7th, 1941—a date which will live in infamy—the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.” —President Franklin Roosevelt, address to the nation, 8 December 1941

Repetition: “Nobody ever defended anything successfully; there is only attack and attack and attack some more.” —Gen. George S. Patton, American general in World War I and World War II (1885–1945)

Repetition: “Yesterday, the Japanese government also launched an attack against Malaya. Last night, Japanese forces attacked Hong Kong. Last night, Japanese forces attacked Guam. Last night, Japanese forces attacked the Philippine Islands. Last night, the Japanese attacked Wake Island. And this morning, the Japanese attacked Midway Island.” —President Franklin Roosevelt, address to the nation, 8 December 1941

Simile: Attack as viciously as a lioness attacking a gazelle in search of a meal for her cubs.

(1) “Battle is the most magnificent competition in which a human being can indulge. It brings out all that is best; it removes all that is base. All men are afraid in battle. The coward is the one who lets his fear overcome his sense of duty. Duty is the essence of manhood.” —Gen. George Patton

(1) “It is impossible to win the race unless you venture to run, impossible to win the victory unless you dare to battle.” —Richard M. DeVoos, American businessman, cofounder of Amway (1926–)

Antithesis: “A battle lost or won is easily described, understood, and appreciated, but the moral growth of a great nation requires reflection, as well as observation, to appreciate it.” —Frederick Douglass

Antithesis: “The general who wins the battle makes many calculations in his temple before the battle is fought. The general who loses makes but few calculations beforehand.” —Sun Tzu, Chinese general

Metaphor: “Humanity has won its battle. Liberty now has a country.” —Marquis de Lafayette

Parallelism: “The battle of life is, in most cases, fought uphill; and to win it without a struggle were perhaps to win it without honor. If there were no difficulties there would be no success; if there were nothing to struggle for, there would be nothing to be achieved.” —Samuel Smiles, Scottish author and reformer (1812–1904)

Repetition: “I believe in the battle—whether it’s the battle of a campaign or the battle of this office, which is a continuing battle.” —President Richard M. Nixon

Simile: “As a man sows, shall he reap. And I know that talk is cheap. But the heat of the battle is as sweet as the victory.” —Bob Marley

Vivid imagery: “A lost battle is a battle one thinks one has lost.” —Jean-Paul Sartre, French existentialist philosopher, playwright, novelist, screenwriter, and political activist (1905–1980)

Alliteration: We are beleaguered, beset, and besieged by these enemies.

Metaphor: “Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear; though war break out against me, even then will I be confident.” —Bible

(1) Our brains are continuously bombarded with enormous amounts of information from each of the senses.

(1) The bushwhack was a favorite tactic of outlaws of the old West.

(1) “During the Civil War, the area became a refuge for service-dodging Texans, and gangs of bushwhackers, as they were called, hid in its vastness. Conscript details of Confederate Army hunted the fugitives, and occasional skirmishes resulted.” —Administration in the State of Texas, “U.S. Public Relief Program (1935–1943),” Texas: A Guide to the Lone Star State (The WPA Guide to Texas), Hastings House, 1940, p. 410

Metaphor: “I have tried to talk about the issues in this campaign ... and this has sometimes been a lonely road, because I never meet anybody coming the other way.” —Adlai E. Stevenson, American politician (1900–1965)

Metaphor: “Christianity is the story of how the rightful King has landed, you might say in disguise, and is calling us all to take part in His great campaign of sabotage.” —C. S. Lewis, British scholar and novelist (1898–1963)

Simile: “To campaign against colonialism is like barking up a tree that has already been cut down.” —Andrew Cohen, American philosopher and visionary (1955–)

(1) After the British ship had fired a single 64-pound cannonade, the French vessel surrendered, fearing it would be outgunned.

Antithesis: If the highest aim of a captain were to preserve his ship, he would keep it in port forever.” —St. Thomas Aquinas, scholastic philosopher and theologian (1225–1274)

Antithesis: “I had rather have a plain, russet-coated Captain, that knows what he fights for, and loves what he knows, than that which you call a Gentle-man and is nothing else.” —Oliver Cromwell, English military and political leader and later Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England (1599–1658)

Simile: “For a politician to complain about the press is like a ship’s captain complaining about the sea.” —Enoch Powell

(1) Tourists can fairly easily circumnavigate the World Trade Center rebuilding project.

(1) Conscript troops and too few elite forces do not make a good fighting force.

(1) “During the Civil War, the area became a refuge for service-dodging Texans, and gangs of bushwhackers, as they were called, hid in its vastness. Conscript details of Confederate Army hunted the fugitives, and occasional skirmishes resulted.” —Administration in the State of Texas, “U.S. Public Relief Program (1935–1943),” Texas: A Guide to the Lone Star State (The WPA Guide to Texas), Hastings House, 1940, p. 410

(1) During the American Revolution, the British forces would dragoon colonists for service.

(1) During World War II, the Allies conducted a post-Normandy landing called Operation Dragoon.

(1) Don’t draw fire; it irritates the people around. —Bumper sticker

(1) I had never heard of a man in his right mind going out to fight a duel without first making his will.

(2) assault or attack an enemy on their flank

(1), (2) During World War I, the combatants made extensive use of trenches because they helped to contain explosions and helped prevent enfilade firing in the event the enemy gain control of any part of them.

(1) “Yesterday, the Japanese government also launched an attack against Malaya. Last night, Japanese forces attacked Hong Kong. Last night, Japanese forces attacked Guam. Last night, Japanese forces attacked the Philippine Islands. Last night, the Japanese attacked Wake Island. And this morning, the Japanese attacked Midway Island.” —President Franklin Roosevelt, address to the nation, 8 December 1941

(1) “You will launch many projects but have time to finish only a few. So think, plan, develop, launch, and tap good people to be responsible. Give them authority and hold them accountable. Trying to do too much yourself creates a bottleneck.” —Donald Rumsfeld, American Secretary of Defense

Metaphor: “The small force that it takes to launch a boat into the stream should not be confused with the force of the stream that carries it along: but this confusion appears in nearly all biographies.” —Friedrich Nietzsche, German classical scholar and philosopher (1844–1900)

Parallelism: “You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment. Fools stand on their island opportunities and look toward another land. There is no other land, there is no other life but this.” —Henry David Thoreau, American essayist, poet, and philosopher (1817–1862)

(1) “To achieve great things, two things are needed; a plan and not quite enough time.” —Leonard Bernstein, American conductor, composer, and pianist (1918–1990)

Alliteration: “In preparing for battle, I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.” —Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower

Alliteration: “Four steps to achievement: Plan purposefully. Prepare prayerfully. Proceed positively. Pursue persistently.” —William Arthur Ward, American scholar, author, editor, pastor, and teacher

Metaphor: “Do you wish to rise? Begin by descending. You plan a tower that will pierce the clouds? Lay first the foundation of humility.” —Saint Augustine

Parallelism: “To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also believe.” —Anatole France, French poet, journalist, and novelist (1844–1924)

(2) threat or implied threat to use military force

(1), (2) The Iranian military exercises in the Straits of Hormuz are a way for their leaders to saber rattle.