"In the Name of the Bodleian"
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We do not get many glimpses of Bodley's habits of life or ways of thinking, but there is no difficulty in discerning a strenuous, determined, masterful figure, bent during his later years, perhaps tyrannously bent, on effecting his object. He was not, we learn from a correspondent, 'hasty to write but when the posts do urge him, saying there need be no answer to your letters till more leisure breed him opportunity.' 'Words are women, deeds are men,' is another saying of his which I reprint without comment.

— Augustine Birrell

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "We do not get many glimpses of Bodley's habits of life or ways of thinking, but there is no difficulty in discerning a strenuous, determined, masterful figure, bent during his later years, perhaps tyrannously bent, on effecting his object. He was not, we learn from a correspondent, 'hasty to write but when the posts do urge him, saying there need be no answer to your letters till more leisure breed him opportunity.' 'Words are women, deeds are men,' is another saying of his which I reprint without comment." in the context of ""In the Name of the Bodleian"" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

Source: Wikiquote: "Augustine Birrell" (Quotes, In the Name of the Bodleian, and Other Essays (1905)) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
Augustine Birrell

About Augustine Birrell

Augustine Birrell (19 January 1850 – 20 November 1933) was an English essayist, biographer and politician.