Forgiveness Trivia Quiz

Answer: Alexander Pope

Alexander Pope was a waspy man who frequently lashed out at others, particularly other writers, on their merits or lack of them. Pope was the master of the heroic couplet and the quatrain. Pope wrote in "An Essay on Criticism" (1711):

"Ah ne'er so dire a Thirst of Glory boast,
Nor in the Critick let the Man be lost!
Good-Nature and Good-Sense must ever join;
To err is Humane; to Forgive, Divine."

The word 'humane' is the spelling of that time for 'human'. Pope is saying that critics forget that a writer is human and is therefore prone to error. A measure of forgiveness should be practiced by the critic for minor mistakes. Pope took "to err is human" from the ancient Latin phrase "Errare humanum est."

Answer: Mahatma Gandhi

Thoreau wrote about it; King brought it into the modern era; and Jesus lived it.
But Gandhi made it a worldwide movement. What he is saying that the weak must be strong and to stand up for ideals and goals against the oppressors and to resist, in a passive resistance stance, is a measure of strength, not weakness.

Answer: Maya Angelou

"I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" (1969) is Maya Angelou's autobiography. We learn that she was not always a writer and poet but was a dancer, actress, and singer. She became the clear voice of the civil rights movement and dramatized the struggle of black women for recognition and equality.

At the 1992 inauguration of Bill Clinton, Maya Angelou read her poem "On the Pulse of Morning" written for the occasion. The poem discusses change, responsibility, and the citizen's role in society.

Answer: Jimmy Swaggart

In the 1990s, Swaggart was twice embarrassed by his association with prostitutes. He was 'defrocked' from his ministry which at the time was one of the most powerful on television. He was a great piano player, had an outstanding singing voice, and could be mesmerizing in his sermons. He still continues his new ministry but not to the size of the audiences that he once dominated.

Answer: Jane Fonda

Fonda drew the ire of many when she, perhaps naively, in her opposition to the Vietnam War, visited North Vietnam. She had a history of political activism but while in North Vietnam she was photographed seated on an anti-aircraft battery. The photo outraged many Americans.

She said she was manipulated into sitting on the battery and horrified later at the implications. The quote indicates that the hostility she received begins with forgiving yourself.

Answer: Mark Twain

Twain was a humorist at his core but had a sarcastic acid tongue at times. His wide ranging occupations made him arguably the first great American novelist. His premier novels, "Tom Sawyer" (1876) and "Huckleberry Finn" (1884), are classics. His "Life on the Mississippi" and his various travel books give him a strong non-fiction status as well.

Answer: Oscar Wilde

Wilde is one of the most quoted persons in the English language. Dorothy Parker paid him homage in her poem:

"If with the literate I am
Impelled to try an epigram,
I never seek to take the credit;
We all assume that Oscar said it".

Answer: The Scarlet Letter

Hester had to wear a scarlet 'A' on her dress to symbolize her adultery and her illegimate child. Dimmesdale, the minister and father of her child, wants Hester to confess that he is to blame for her predicament so as to relieve himself of his guilty secret. Hester feels that this would be cruel and would ruin his life.

"The Scarlet Letter" is a 1850 novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne that explores the Puritan culture and the nature of sin, redemption, and forgiveness.

Answer: William Blake

He is described as a poet, painter, and printmaker, but that is selling him short. Little known in his time, Blake's expressiveness, creativity, and idiosyncratic philosophical and mystical musings fit more with the Romantic Era that he proceded. He is given credit for influencing Thomas Paine and Emanuel Swedenborg.

Some give him credit for being an early advocate of free love. He once said "Till she who burns with youth,
And knows no fixed lot,
Is bound in spells of law to one she loathes?
And must she drag the chain."

Answer: The Koran

The Koran is the sacred book of Islam. Muslims believe that the Koran was revealed from God to Muhammad through the angel Gabriel over a period of 23 years. There are many parallels between the Christian Bible and the Koran.

The Vedas Scriptures is a collection that guides Hinduism. Tipitaka is important to Buddhists.