Overarching Sentiments

What sort of language is worthy of being inscribed in stone? A frieze on the James A. Farley Building in New York City is inscribed with Neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds. This motto of the U.S. Postal Service is borrowed almost entirely from The Histories (Bookshop|Amazon) by the ancient historian Herodotus. An inscription on the Goodhue Building at the Los Angeles Public Library reads Books invite all; they constrain none. Homes in parts of Europe sometimes have the Latin inscription Parva sed apta mihi, which translates as “Small, but right for me.” Another inscription for a domicile is As the body is to the mind, so the house is to the body. This is part of a complete episode.