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Silas Marner: The Weaver of Raveloe (1861) is the third novel by George Eliot. Set in the early years of the 19th century, it seems at first to be only a simple story about the weaver Silas Marner. However, the complex plot and wide cast of characters soon reveal its scope and realism.

The novel Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë was published under the pen name "Currer Bell" in 1847. Considered one of the most famous romance novels of all time, Jane Eyre is a Bildungsroman which chronicles the experiences of Jane, including her childhood as an orphan, her growth to adulthood and her love for Mr. Rochester, the master of Thornfield Hall. It was the first English novel that focused on its protagonist's moral and spiritual development by way of an intimate first-person narrative, in which events are marked by psychological intensity.

Set in the wild, stormy moorland of England. It tells the tale of the Linton and Earnshaw families: Edgar and Isabella Linton and Catherine and Hindley Earnshaw and their strange adopted brother, Heathcliff. Now considered a classic of English literature, upon publication it received mix reviews due to its Gothic undertones and savage passions. Wuthering Heights has inspired many adaptations, including film, radio, and television dramatizations and a hit song by Kate Bush.

The Satires comprises a collection of satirical poems by the Latin author Juvenal written in the second century CE. Juvenal wrote in the Roman tradition of “satura”, a formal literary genre composed in dactylic hexameter rather than just witty criticism in any format. In a tone and manner that ranges from irony to rage, Juvenal criticizes the actions and beliefs of his contemporaries.

Meno is a Socratic dialogue written by Plato. In it, the two characters, Meno and Socrates, discuss "arete", or virtue. This dialogue is also famous for introducing "Meno's Paradox".

The author of the Book of Nonsense, Edward Lear, was an English artist, musician, and poet. Today, he is best known for his "gibberish" poetry and especially limericks, such as those contained herein.

The Enchiridion is a collection of the most profound teachings of Epictetus (c. 55-135 AD), who taught that philosophy is a way of life and not just a matter of theory. The Enchiridion is a canonical text of Stoic philosophy, and contains all the fundamentals. Among them is the principle of not being concerned with that which is out of one’s control. Misfortune should not disturb the individual at all, and should not be perceived negatively.

The Analects or Selected Sayings is an ancient Chinese text comprising sayings and wisdom teachings attributed to Confucius and his contemporaries, as well as fragmentary dialogues between the philosopher and his students. The Analects has been one of the most influential books in China for the last two millennia, and continues to contribute to Chinese and East Asian culture and thought.

Innocent III was one of the most powerful of the medieval popes. He exerted a strong influence over the states of Europe, claiming supremacy over all of Europe's kings. This claim to temporal power over the Christian world allowed him to increase the size of the Papal States, and at the same time, he built a web of political alliances between the Papacy and several Catholic monarchies throughout Europe.

Bohemia prospered in the 14th century, and the Holy Roman Empire passed to the Habsburgs in 1438. The Empire itself remained fragmented, and the real power lay with the individual principalities. Financial institutions such as the Hanseatic League held great economic and political power.

The deaconess Olympias, to whom 17 of Chrysostom's extant letters are addressed, was born about 368 to a pagan family of high rank. After the death of her father Seleucus, she was brought up under the guardianship of her uncle Procopius who was a devout Christian.

In 387 AD, Emperor Theodosius I imposed new taxes. In Antioch, the protests against the tax degenerated into a riot in which the statues of the imperial family were thrown down. Roman emperors viewed the crime of lèse-majesté in a serious light, and the Antiochenes dreaded that Theodosius would destroy the city in retaliation. It was in the aftermath of the Riot of the Statues that Chrysostom delivered a series of lenten sermons which have come to be known as The Homilies on the Statues.

These homilies by Chrysostom are great examples of his discourses. St. Ignatius was the Bishop of Antioch who suffered martyrdom at Rome in the reign of Trajan about the year 110 CE. St. Babylas was Bishop of Antioch from about 237 to 250. He was martyred in the persecution under Decius.

This moving treatise was composed when St. Chrysostom was in exile, probably shortly before his death. It was sent with a letter to his friend the deaconess Olympias in Constantinople. A portion of this treatise reflects the thoughts of Plato in the 10th book of The Republic to prove the immortality of the soul.

The Book of Jasher is a translation of a Hebrew book printed in 1613. Sepir Ha Yasher, the Hebrew title, means the "Book of the Just Man", or "the Upright Record". This text covers much of the same terrain as the Mosaic books of the Bible, from the creation to the death of Moses, with some minor differences....

John Chrysostom’s letters to his childhood friend Theodore who had fallen for a young woman after agreeing to live a life of asceticism. John explains to Theodore that he has covenanted with a Heavenly Bridegroom and that to marry Hermione would be adultery. John compares the destruction of the soul of Theodore to the destruction of the Temple of Israel.

St. John Chrysostom’s sermon on spiritual riches that are superior to material wealth, and scorns robbers and housebreakers and slanderers and false accusers and death itself. For they are not parted from the possessor by death, and they accompany them on their journey to the other world, and are transplanted with them to the future life.

John Chrysostom, Archbishop of Constantinople, wrote this homily against prevalent heresies of his time. Marcionism was an early Christian dualist belief system that originated in the teachings of Marcion of Sinope around the year 144, while Manichaeism taught an elaborate dualistic cosmology describing the struggle between a spiritual world of light and a material world of darkness.

St. John Chrysostom’s sermon on the low attendance at church. He is distressed when he calls to mind that on festival days the multitudes assembled resemble the broad expanse of the sea, but not even the smallest part of that multitude is gathered for a church service. He likens the greater part of the body of the Church to a dead and motionless carcass.

This sermon by St. John Chrysostom points out the error of scrutinizing the sins of others with great exactitude while we let our own pass. He argues that we ought to do the contrary, to keep our own faults unforgotten but never even to admit a thought of those of others. He argues that God would be more inclined to forgive their sins if people did that.