"EVERY STEP OF MY LIFE": JAMES MURRAY'S GRASP OF REALITY
A friend recently passed on to me this fabulous quote from Simon Winchester’s life of James Murray [The Meaning of Everything, p.135, from Peter Sutcliffe, The Oxford University Press, An Informal History (1978), no page given], who was one of the editors of the standard of our beloved English language, The Oxford English Dictionary. Here is the quote:
“Murray was sustained for the rest of his life by an illusion that time, however quickly it ran out, was on his side. For a moment in history the language had paused and come to a rest. It could be seized and captured forever.”
This statement was made in light of the following extract from a letter that Murray wrote to Lord Bryce on December 15, 1903. Murray was sixty-six at the time:
“I think it was God’s will. In times of faith, I am sure of it. I look back & see that every step of my life has been as it were imposed upon me—not a thing of choice; and that the whole training of my life with its multifarious & irregular incursions into nearly every science & many arts, seems to have had the express purpose of fitting me to do this Dictionary …So I work on with a firm belief (at most times) that I am doing what God has fitted me for, & so made my duty; & I hope that He will strengthen me to see the end of it …But I am only an instrument, only the means that He has provided, & there is no credit due to me, except that of trying to do my duty; Deo soli Gloria.”
“Murray was sustained for the rest of his life by an illusion that time, however quickly it ran out, was on his side. For a moment in history the language had paused and come to a rest. It could be seized and captured forever.”
This statement was made in light of the following extract from a letter that Murray wrote to Lord Bryce on December 15, 1903. Murray was sixty-six at the time:
“I think it was God’s will. In times of faith, I am sure of it. I look back & see that every step of my life has been as it were imposed upon me—not a thing of choice; and that the whole training of my life with its multifarious & irregular incursions into nearly every science & many arts, seems to have had the express purpose of fitting me to do this Dictionary …So I work on with a firm belief (at most times) that I am doing what God has fitted me for, & so made my duty; & I hope that He will strengthen me to see the end of it …But I am only an instrument, only the means that He has provided, & there is no credit due to me, except that of trying to do my duty; Deo soli Gloria.”
Great quote. On a similar note, I highly recommend Winchester’s The Professor and the Madman, if you haven’t already read it.
Posted by
The Catechizer and The Deacon |
3:07 p.m.
I also recommend the Professor and the Madman or anything that Simon Winchester wrote. He is my favorite heathen author.
I also recommend dropping the $3000 on the OED. I got it for my 21st birthday and it is an essential tool for sermon making and paper writing.
(Maybe I will use it in my paper when you teach J. Edwards at Puritan Seminary this winter!)
Posted by
NPE |
6:39 p.m.
Nate
See you in a few weeks. Michael H.
Posted by
Michael A G Haykin |
2:28 a.m.