Word: shallowing
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...They seek only the pleasures of literature, and slight observation will convince us that they delight in these only when easily obtained. Where grow the more sober plants of history and biography their fancy seldom leads them. The rich stores of Macaulay and Prescott lie too deep for their shallow taste. The sole care of these literary butterflies is to draw pleasure from the writings of other; that they never add the smallest morsel to the food of the reading world grieves them not in the least; nor do they mourn that they have planted no flowers to brighten...
There is, to be sure, some danger that the knowledge thus obtained will be very shallow, but of course it depends on each man how regular and attentive he will be and how he will use his opportunities. However, we should think that, with due care, a great deal might be learned with very little trouble; and the courses in Greek and Latin, at any rate, will serve as an experiment to determine how far the student is capable of "comprehending the spirit" of a difficult language without the aid of careful study on his part and of elaborate comments...
...were to judge from some of the shallow excuses which are given for not supporting the institution, we might suppose that the students did not care how soon it was given up as impracticable, but in reality the feeling among us is far different. We should all be sorry to see the enterprise, started only three years ago at the unanimous request of the students, fall to the ground; and it is only through listlessness, or a feeling that some one will be sure to support it, that so many of us are backward. This being the case...
...government for from five to twenty years to private parties for fishing purposes. At one of the larger of these openings our boat stops, and we find our guides or canoemen ready to take us ashore. The mouth of the river is perhaps a hundred feet wide, and the shallow water shows us a shingle bottom. On the bank a small French Canadian settlement manages to support itself and a few ponies. Little carts are the common vehicles for these rough roads, although we sometimes meet the luxurious bumping-board to remind us of New England. The natives seem...
...babble is undignified, and the man who is truly wise is sparing of his words. His mind is not shallow, with its thoughts all lying upon the surface; it is rather like one of those calm, deep pools sometimes found in the course of a noisy stream. The little troubles of life sink into its placid depths, leaving scarcely a ripple behind. Its habitual calm is disturbed by nothing less than a flood or an earthquake...