And in Virgil the father of the gods, whom Pallas
supplicates before facing Turnus, warns him not to confound the beauty
of life with its length:
Stat sua cuique dies; breve et irreparabile tempus
Omnibus est vitae; sed famam extendere factis,
Hoc virtutis opus. . .
"The days of man are numbered, and his life-time short and
irrecoverable; but to increase his renown by the quality of his acts,
this is the work of virtue...."[1]
[Footnote 1: _AEneid_, Book 10, Garnier ed.]
_Famam extendere factis_: no fabulous personage of antiquity made more
haste than Guynemer to multiply the exploits that increased his glory.
But the enumeration of these would not furnish a key to his life, nor
explain either that secret power he possessed or the fascination he
exerted. "It is not always the most brilliant actions which best expose
the virtues or vices of men. Some trifle, some insignificant word or
jest, often displays the character better than bloody combats, pitched
battles, or the taking of cities. Also, as portrait painters try to
reproduce the features and expression of their subjects, as the most
obvious presentment of their characters, and without troubling about the
other parts of the body, so we may be allowed to concentrate our study
upon the distinctive signs of the soul.
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