Glossary

Use your browser's 'back' command to return to where you were:

or click here to return to the beginning -

anguish
suffering
self-recrimination
blaming yourself
cackling
laughing
Rumpelstiltskin
an evil character from Grimms' fairy tales
wretched
miserable
accomplished
got done
Providence
destiny, God
maliciously
wishing ill
philosophical Constitution
most of the ideas on which even secular Western life today are based are a cultural inheritance from Judaism and Catholicism, via the Bible
toiling
working hard

Use your browser's 'back' command to return to where you were:

or click here to return to the beginning -

ruthlessly
all through, without exception
disposable
available
wistfully
longingly
forlornly
without hope
allotted
given
inadequate
not good enough
stock-taking
counting what you've got (like shop-keeper does once a year)
consolation
trying to look on the bright side of things
tribulation
trouble

Use your browser's 'back' command to return to where you were:

or click here to return to the beginning -

cram
squeeze
husbanding
using wisely
gauge, gauging
measure, measuring
claimant
whatever demands something from you
lateral thinking
King Solomon was faced with two women, who both claimed that a child was theirs - he said "OK, cut the child in two and give them half each", the first woman said "OK, that's fair", the second said "No, give it to her", so Solomon gave it to the second woman. Edward de Bono has outlined strategies for developing this kind of creative thinking in his book, Lateral Thinking.
period
a monthly biological cycle: the effects of the female version are widely recognised, but there is a male equivalent, too
radical
from the roots
happiness, contentment
some people would say these are the same: others make a distinction, saying that happiness is short-lived, while contentment is long-lasting
 

Use your browser's 'back' command to return to where you were:

or click here to return to the beginning -