Chapter 4 of Miscellaneous Aphorisms is here in full — 438 sentences across 88 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IV
Chapter 4 of Miscellaneous Aphorisms is here in full — 438 sentences across 88 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Diversity of opinion about a work of art shows that the work is new, complex, and vital. Nothing is more painful to me than to come across virtue in a person in whom I have never suspected its existence. It is like finding a needle in a bundle of hay. It pricks you. If we have virtue we should warn people of it.
Chapter 4 of Miscellaneous Aphorisms is here in full — 438 sentences across 88 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/87 · 5 reading units · Lines 1–5
These definitions explain words found in the current reading and keep every example grounded in its original sentence.
Oxford-style entry order: headword, part of speech, US IPA, concise definition, contextual example, and audio.
a collection of things wrapped or boxed together
From this reading “It is like finding a needle in a bundle of hay.”
a conceptual whole made up of complicated and related parts
From this reading “Diversity of opinion about a work of art shows that the work is new, complex, and vital.”
noticeable heterogeneity
From this reading “Diversity of opinion about a work of art shows that the work is new, complex, and vital.”
grass mowed and cured for use as fodder
From this reading “It is like finding a needle in a bundle of hay.”
the leaf of a conifer
From this reading “It is like finding a needle in a bundle of hay.”
plural of “prick” — insulting terms of address for people who are stupid or irritating or ridiculous
From this reading “It pricks you.”
urgently needed; absolutely necessary
From this reading “Diversity of opinion about a work of art shows that the work is new, complex, and vital.”
notify of danger, potential harm, or risk
From this reading “If we have virtue we should warn people of it.”
English keeps certain words together, and knowing the pair is worth more than knowing each word alone. Every partnership below was counted across our whole published library, and earns its place by appearing far more often than two unrelated words of the same frequency would.
Shown as this reading writes them, with the form the library counts, what kind of pairing it is, and how often it occurs.
In this reading “Nothing is more painful to me than to come across virtue in a person in whom I have never suspected its existence.”
find unexpectedly
In this reading “Nothing is more painful to me than to come across virtue in a person in whom I have never suspected its existence.”
Every word in these five lines is listed here, and every one of them can be played on its own.
Dictionary details are shown only when verified; these are not licensed Oxford entries.
used before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one
From this reading Diversity of opinion about a work of art shows that the work is new, complex, and vital.
on the subject of; concerning
From this reading Diversity of opinion about a work of art shows that the work is new, complex, and vital.
from one side of something to the other
From this reading Nothing is more painful to me than to come across virtue in a person in whom I have never suspected its existence.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Diversity of opinion about a work of art shows that the work is new, complex, and vital.
an old form of “are”, used with “thou”
From this reading Diversity of opinion about a work of art shows that the work is new, complex, and vital.
a collection of things wrapped or boxed together
From this reading It is like finding a needle in a bundle of hay.
move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading Nothing is more painful to me than to come across virtue in a person in whom I have never suspected its existence.
a conceptual whole made up of complicated and related parts
From this reading Diversity of opinion about a work of art shows that the work is new, complex, and vital.
noticeable heterogeneity
From this reading Diversity of opinion about a work of art shows that the work is new, complex, and vital.
the state or fact of existing
From this reading Nothing is more painful to me than to come across virtue in a person in whom I have never suspected its existence.
the act of determining the properties of something, usually by research or calculation
From this reading It is like finding a needle in a bundle of hay.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading Nothing is more painful to me than to come across virtue in a person in whom I have never suspected its existence.
grass mowed and cured for use as fodder
From this reading It is like finding a needle in a bundle of hay.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading Nothing is more painful to me than to come across virtue in a person in whom I have never suspected its existence.
on condition that; in the event that
From this reading If we have virtue we should warn people of it.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Nothing is more painful to me than to come across virtue in a person in whom I have never suspected its existence.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Diversity of opinion about a work of art shows that the work is new, complex, and vital.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It is like finding a needle in a bundle of hay.
belonging to the thing or animal already mentioned
From this reading Nothing is more painful to me than to come across virtue in a person in whom I have never suspected its existence.
prefer or wish to do something
From this reading It is like finding a needle in a bundle of hay.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Nothing is more painful to me than to come across virtue in a person in whom I have never suspected its existence.
(comparative of “much” used with mass nouns) a quantifier meaning greater in size or amount or extent or degree
From this reading Nothing is more painful to me than to come across virtue in a person in whom I have never suspected its existence.
the leaf of a conifer
From this reading It is like finding a needle in a bundle of hay.
not ever; at no time in the past or future
From this reading Nothing is more painful to me than to come across virtue in a person in whom I have never suspected its existence.
not of long duration; having just (or relatively recently) come into being or been made or acquired or discovered
From this reading Diversity of opinion about a work of art shows that the work is new, complex, and vital.
not one thing; not anything
From this reading Nothing is more painful to me than to come across virtue in a person in whom I have never suspected its existence.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Diversity of opinion about a work of art shows that the work is new, complex, and vital.
a personal belief or judgment that is not founded on proof or certainty
From this reading Diversity of opinion about a work of art shows that the work is new, complex, and vital.
causing physical or psychological pain
From this reading Nothing is more painful to me than to come across virtue in a person in whom I have never suspected its existence.
(plural) any group of human beings (men or women or children) collectively
From this reading If we have virtue we should warn people of it.
a human being
From this reading Nothing is more painful to me than to come across virtue in a person in whom I have never suspected its existence.
plural of “prick” — insulting terms of address for people who are stupid or irritating or ridiculous
From this reading It pricks you.
used to say what is right, expected, or advisable
From this reading If we have virtue we should warn people of it.
plural of “show” — the act of publicly exhibiting or entertaining
From this reading Diversity of opinion about a work of art shows that the work is new, complex, and vital.
believed likely
From this reading Nothing is more painful to me than to come across virtue in a person in whom I have never suspected its existence.
used to introduce the second part of a comparison
From this reading Nothing is more painful to me than to come across virtue in a person in whom I have never suspected its existence.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading Diversity of opinion about a work of art shows that the work is new, complex, and vital.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Diversity of opinion about a work of art shows that the work is new, complex, and vital.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Nothing is more painful to me than to come across virtue in a person in whom I have never suspected its existence.
Moral excellence and goodness of character; the highest human attainment in Stoic philosophy.
From this reading Nothing is more painful to me than to come across virtue in a person in whom I have never suspected its existence.
urgently needed; absolutely necessary
From this reading Diversity of opinion about a work of art shows that the work is new, complex, and vital.
notify of danger, potential harm, or risk
From this reading If we have virtue we should warn people of it.
the speaker together with one or more other people
From this reading If we have virtue we should warn people of it.
the form of “who” used as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Nothing is more painful to me than to come across virtue in a person in whom I have never suspected its existence.
exert oneself by doing mental or physical work for a purpose or out of necessity
From this reading Diversity of opinion about a work of art shows that the work is new, complex, and vital.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading It pricks you.
Chapter 4 of Miscellaneous Aphorisms by Oscar Wilde holds 438 sentences, grouped into 88 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the source edition, unabridged, and the chapter records which sentences cover which part of the work so that nothing is dropped. Every word can be tapped for its pronunciation and dictionary entry.
Chapter 4 holds 438 sentences of Miscellaneous Aphorisms, unabridged, divided into 88 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 4 of Miscellaneous Aphorisms by Oscar Wilde exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 438 sentences, grouped into 88 sections of at most 5 sentences so that a reader can take the chapter in steady, finishable pieces. The chapter also stores a coverage record mapping every one of its sentences to a part of the work, which is how the edition demonstrates that no line was dropped.
Work through the 88 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 88 sections in this chapter is short enough to read once, hear once, and then re-read with the vocabulary in view. Tapping a word plays it alone and opens its dictionary entry with IPA, part of speech and meaning, so the reader is never forced to guess a pronunciation from spelling. Working section by section keeps a long chapter from becoming an undifferentiated wall of text, which is the usual reason a reader abandons a work of this period.
Yes — every sentence and every individual word in chapter 4 can be played aloud in United States English.
Audio covers the whole chapter: any sentence can be played, and any single word within it can be played on its own. The voice uses United States English. For a work of this period that matters, because spelling is an unreliable guide to pronunciation for vocabulary that has fallen out of daily use, and a learner who guesses wrong tends to keep the error. Hearing the word in its own sentence, and then alone, settles it.
Common questions about reading Miscellaneous Aphorisms by Oscar Wilde on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 2117 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #33979 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #33979, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 176 minutes of reading across 424 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Miscellaneous Aphorisms section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 5 chapters of Miscellaneous Aphorisms to begin.
Each section holds 5 sentences; read it once through.
Play the section aloud, then tap any unfamiliar word for its entry.
Words and structures a reader meets early in Miscellaneous Aphorisms, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
