Wordsmiths like Shakespeare and Robert Frost loved their sarcasm. But when you take comments like that out of context, they can mean the exact opposite of the author’s intention.
That hasn’t stopped us from spouting famous lines, many from classic literature, however we see fit.
马上学：wordsmith是“word”和“smith(铁匠)”两个词组成的合成词，字面意思虽然是”对文字千锤百炼的人”，实际上指的是语言大师，大文豪。例如，In today's review section Anthony Edwards, playwright, poet, novelist and general wordsmith, talks about his glittering career. 在今天的评论栏目中，安东尼?爱德华兹——著名的剧作家、诗人、小说家也是语言文字领域里的大师，将为我们讲述他光辉的事业。
Genius is one per cent inspiration and ninety-nine per cent perspiration.
大发明家爱迪生的这句名言不知鼓舞了多少勤奋向上的童鞋。可是你或许不知道这句还有下半句，Accordingly, a “genius” is often merely a talented person who has done all of his or her homework. 因此，通常只有那些有天分并且付出全部努力的人才能成为“天才”。爱迪生大师的意思显然是要强调后半句，言下之意也就是说没有天赋光凭蛮干也是不行的。
推荐书：注意文中提到的do one’s homework可不是做家庭作业的意思。而是表示“认真研究学习，做好完全准备”的意思。例如，It was obvious that she had done her homework and thoroughly prepared for her interview. 显然她对面试做了充分而用心地准备。
Money is the root of all evil.
In most high school adaptations of Shakespeare’s well-known play, Juliet raises a hand to her furrowed brow, searching for her lover from a balcony. But “whereforeart” doesn’t mean “where.” It means “why.” Juliet questions why fate made Romeo a Montague, her family’s sworn enemy.
I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.
Most attribute this insight to Voltaire. In reality, Evelyn Beatrice Hall, a writer born two hundred years later, paraphrased a quote from Voltaire’s “Treatise on Tolerance,” which begged for understanding between religions.
If I have seen a little further it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants.
The best-known use of this phrase was by Isaac Newton in a letter to his rival Robert Hooke, in 1676: 'What Descartes did was a good step. You have added much several ways, and especially in taking the colours of thin plates into philosophical consideration. If I have seen a little further it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants.'
而且这个比喻也并非牛顿原创。根据史料 ，早在 12世纪，著名的法国沙特尔学校校长、 中世纪哲学家伯纳德（ Bernard of Chartres）就曾说过：“Nos esse quasi nanos gigantium humeris insidientes.”大意是， 我们都像坐在巨人肩膀上的矮子。这句话如今还能在沙特尔市著名的哥特式大教堂的窗户上找到。伯纳德以来，至少有十余人用过这一比喻，牛顿是其中最著名的一个。
But Newton didn't coin the phrase himself. He was alluding to a simile said much earlier by Bernard of Chartres, a 12th-century man.John of Salisbury wrote that Bernard of Chartres used to say that 'we [the Moderns] are like dwarves perched on the shoulders of giants [the Ancients], and thus we are able to see more and farther than the latter.'
莎翁这句几百年来被情侣们奉为经典的情话实际上并不是写给哪位姑娘的，而是献给自己心目中的男神——莎士比亚最好的同性朋友的赞美诗。小伙伴们来看下一句，Thou art more lovely and more temperate.（你比夏天更可爱，更温婉。）简直更加情意绵绵了有木有。事实上，莎士比亚一生中总共写了上百首十四行诗献给这位仁兄！基情四射啊。
More than one slick love letter has included this phrase. But arguably Shakespeare’s most famous sonnet praised a man, not a woman. He actually wrote hundreds of sonnets about this guy, his dearest friend.
This gets uttered around awkward family photos on the mantle of nearly every home in the country. The original phrase, however, meant the opposite. An earlier proverb preached, “The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb.” In this case, “water of the womb” refers to family while “blood of the covenant” means blood shed by soldiers. So really, military bonds trump your siblings and parents.
