Ld heads forgetful of their sins,Old, learned, respectable bald headsEdit and annotate the linesThat young men, tossing on their beds,Rhymed out in love’s despairTo flatter beauty’s ignorant ear.They’ll cough in the ink to the world’s end;Wear out the carpet with their shoesEarning respect; have no strange friend;If they have sinned nobody knows.Lord, what would they sayShould their Catullus walk that way?

— W.B. Yeats

It is usually unbearably painful to read a book by an author who knows way less than you do, unless the book is a novel.

— Mokokoma Mokhonoana

acceptable accomplishment account accounts adeptness admissible agony aphorism aphorisms aphorist aphorists appreciation apprehension awareness be-acquainted-with be-conversant-with be-familiar-with be-up-to-speed-on be-versed-in benighted book books brookable capability capacity cognition cognizance command comprehend comprehension consciousness cultivated cultured desolation despair discomfort distress educated education endurable enlightened entertain entertaining entertainment erudite erudition escape escapism essay essays expertise expertness fiction funny grasp grief have-a-grasp-of have-knowledge-of have-learned have-mastered have-memorized heartache heartbreak hilarious humor humorous humour ignorance ignorant illiterate inexperienced insufferable insupportable intolerable joke jokes know knowledgable knowledge knowledgeable learned learning literature man-of-letters manageable mastery men-of-letters misery narrative narratives nonfiction novel overpowering pain perception proficiency quotations quotes realization sadness satire scholarly scholarship schooling skill sorrow stories story sufferable suffering supportable sustainable tolerable too-much torment torture unacceptable unbearable understand understanding uneducated unendurable unenlightened unhappiness uninformed unknowledgeable unlearned unlettered unmanageable unread unschooled unsophisticated untaught untrained untutored unworldly via-dolorosa well-educated well-informed well-read wisdom woman-of-letters women-of-letters wretchedness writer writers

Mrs. Bittarcy rustled ominously, holding her peace meanwhile. She feared long words she did not understand. Beelzebub lay hid among too many syllables.('The Man Whom The Trees Loved').

— Algernon Blackwood

erudition language words