[One Sip of a Book] 'Maeil Maeil-ui Yeoksa' Digging into 'That Day' in History

Some sentences encapsulate the entire content of the book itself, while others instantly reach the reader's heart, creating a connection with the book. We introduce such meaningful sentences excerpted from the book. - Editor's note

The 366 quotations contained in this book are actually words spoken by someone on that day or related to events that occurred on that day. From Julius Caesar's exclamation "The die is cast!" as he crossed the Rubicon River in 49 BC to "Workers of the world, unite!" mentioned by Marx and Engels in the Communist Manifesto in 1848, it contains words that appeared in significant events from the ancient world to the 21st century.

False quotations can play the role of a 'meme' as described by biologist Richard Dawkins, just as much as genuine quotations. A meme is a unit of cultural memory transmission that compresses the background of knowledge, and each meme competes to capture our attention. Perhaps the valid reason for collecting excerpts that describe or reflect notable past events and arranging them according to their historical context is due to the capacity of quotations to bear the weight of meaning.

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Let us ensure that no more wars or bloodshed occur between Arabs and Israelis. Let there be no more suffering or denial of rights. Let there be no more despair or loss of faith. Let there be no more mothers grieving the loss of their children. Let there be no more young people losing their lives caught in conflicts from which no one benefits. Let us work together until the day comes when swords are melted into plowshares and spears into sickles. God surely calls us to the house of peace. God guides those He favors on His path.

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Good governments and bad governments can be distinguished by this certain test. Under good governments, workers live in comfort and plenty; under bad governments, workers live in misery and want.

William Cobbett, ‘Political Register’, May 31, 1823

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Everyday History | Written by Peter Pertado | Translated by Lee Eun-kyung | Real Books | 452 pages | 28,500 KRW

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.