Sunday Musings #27

The best portion of a man’s life is his little, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and love.

– William Wordsworth

 

While these little acts of kindness may be unremembered by William, I am sure they were never forgotten by those he was kind to.

I know I will never forget those instances where someone, often a perfect stranger, was kind to me.

 

post script: A note on the Grammar here: It is entirely correct to say “is” instead of “are”, because it agrees with the singular “portion”. However, I’m pretty sure nowadays you’d get “are” written, because it ‘sounds’ right; agreeing with the plural list that follows. 

 

23 thoughts on “Sunday Musings #27”

    1. scifihammy Post author

      Thank you Khloe – but I got into trouble for my “grammar lesson”. I did not mean to lecture, I was just interested in how times change and what “sounds” right nowadays 🙂 Thanks for commenting 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

  2. Ady

    Lovely quote 🙂 I work out my grammar on intuition 😀 😀 Silly me, but when we say portion, it is singular is it not ? Like any potion, it can have a mixture of things within it , though , atleast that’s my intuition 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    1. scifihammy Post author

      You are absolutely right! 🙂 I was just wittering to myself really, because when a list of things followed, then ‘is’ didn’t seem right any more, which it is. And your English is perfect! 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

    1. scifihammy Post author

      oh dear – I didn’t mean to come across as arrogant. It is just that it struck me as a little odd sounding, and I know nowadays in the press they are always getting tenses wrong, because it doesn’t sound right. I wasn’t expecting Colin’s comment.

      Liked by 1 person

  6. colinandray

    The grammar is perfect.
    The best portion of a man’s life IS ……….
    The best portions of a man’s life ARE……….
    Clarification was not necessary………. you done good! 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    1. scifihammy Post author

      I added the post script since many of my followers speak and write English as a second or even third language. And I still believe that with the deterioration of the English language, many people today would write “are” when “is” is correct. I have seen it so many times in print.

      Liked by 2 people

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