3. Textual Evidence: “On the Divine”
“Let man be noble, Generous, and good”
(Goethe).
When man can be these things we can say he
does what is right.
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“Higher beings … let man resemble them”
(Goethe).
When man can act like his God or gods, in a
Saint-like manner, then he is considered
noble.
“Reward the good and punish the wicked;
He may heal and save And usefully bind
All that strays and wanders” (Goethe).
When man does what is right, punishing
the wicked and setting free the
innocent, he is doing a noble job.
4. NobleinOurSocietyToday
In our society today we can
see three major types of
noble. The first type is the
actual nobility. While there
are not as many monarchies
now a day as there were in
our history, there are still
people who are noble by
birth or marriage. As a
society we expect these
people to uphold certain
morals and ethics which we
associate with high class and
upbringing. These morals
can include decorous
behavior, generosity, and
humility.
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The second type of noble
belongs to the people
who champion dignified
causes. These are people
who make it their goal in
life to complete or
attempt to complete a
specific, highly thought
of, and idealized cause.
These people are often
seen as brave, smart, and
in possession of good
characters.
The third kind of noble
belongs to the heroes.
These are the people we
idealize and who can do
no wrong by our
standards. The heroes to
whom we look up to
make up our
understanding of what is
right and what is
wrong, often from a very
young age. Because we
believe that these people
are intrinsically good
they often become our
own inspiration of
goodness.
5. Textual Evidence: A Tale of Two Cities
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“Even when there were sounds of sorrow among the
rest, they were not harsh nor cruel. Even when
golden hair, like her own, lay in a halo on a pillow
round the worn face of a little boy, and he said, with
a radiant smile, „Dear papa and mamma, I am very
sorry to leave you both, and to leave my pretty
sister; but I am called, and I must go!‟ … „Poor
Carton! Kiss him for me!‟” (Dickens 258-9). In this
quote Lucie‟s son dies quite nobly, he is brave in the
face of death and thinking of others before himself.
“I see the lives for which I lay down my
life, peaceful, useful, prosperous and happy, in that England
which I shall see no more” (Dickens 462). Here Carton says
that he will lay down his life so that Lucie can keep her
family intact. This is a noble pursuit because he is dying for
her happiness and safety.
“But I, though a common dog, so struck at him as to make
him draw. Let him break into as many pieces as he will
the sword that he stained with my common blood; he
drew to defend himself – thrust at me with all his skill for
his life” (Dickens 401). Here, Madam Defarge‟s brother
explains how he fought to avenge his other sister‟s virtue.
Although he wasn‟t of the nobility he still fought because
it was the right thing to do.
“If it could have been possible, Miss Manette, that
you could have returned the love of the man you see
before you – self-flung away, wasted, drunken, poor
creature of misuse as you know him to be – he
would have been conscious this day and hour, in
spite of his happiness, that he would bring you to
misery, bring you to sorrow and repentance, blight
you, disgrace you, pull you down with him” (Dickens
185). Because Carton knows that Lucie could never
be happy with him he throws away his own
happiness so that he may see her in joy.
“From that time, in all weathers, she waited there two
hours. As the clock struck two, she was there, and at
four she turned resignedly away. When it was not too
wet of inclement for her child to be with her, they went
together; at other times she went alone; but she never
missed a single day” (Dickens 341). Lucie‟s devotion to
her husband is made clear by her loyalty to be where he
might catch a glimpse of her in order to make his
imprisonment a little easier. This is a righteous and
justified cause, and therefore a noble pursuit.
6. What It means to be Noble
The Princess BrideTo Kill a Mocking Bird
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7. Works Cited
Dickens, Charles. A Tale of Two Cities: And Related Readings. Evanston, IL: McDougal
Littell, 1997. Print.
Gandhi. N.d. Photograph. Central Tibetan Administration. 1 Oct. 2012. Web. 9 May 2013.
Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch and Brock Peters as Tom Robinson in the 1962 Film Version of
“To Kill a Mockingbird.”. N.d. Photograph. New Yorker. Condé Nast, 10 Aug. 2009. Web. 9
May 2013.
LOVE. N.d. Photograph. ScriptShadow. Blogger, 9 June 2011. Web. 9 May 2013.
Macdiarmid, Peter. 2011. Photograph. London. Celebuzz. Spin Entertainment, 2011. Web. 7
May 2013.
Mr. Rogers. N.d. Photograph. Professor Bruce M. Hood. WordPress, 3 May 2010. Web. 9 May
2013.
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