Here are some quotes for the record which I have made great use of over the years.
CS Lewis on Shakespeare's greatness and his distinctive contribution to poetry: "The mark of Shakespeare is to have combined two species of excellence which are not, in a remarkable degree, combined by any other artist, namely the imaginative splendour of the highest type of lyric and the realistic presentation of human life and character.... Combining poetry and realism... Shakespeare makes you believe that Othello, Hamlet, Macbeth, etc. really spoke as we hear them speak."
An insert published by the Christian History Institute included with my church's Sunday bulletin: "The translators of the Authorized Version (KJV) placed a hidden tribute to Shakespeare in the Bible. In 1610, when the translation was being completed, Shakespeare was 46. In Psalm 46, the 46th word from the beginning of the psalm is shake and the 46th word from the end (not counting "Selah") is spear! Check it out."
Last, but not least, from a microfiche of the New York Independent March 15, 1865: "President Lincoln was asked the question 'whether he loved Jesus?' Covering his face with his hands, he turned away and wept. After a few moments he turned to his visitor and said: 'When I left home to take this chair of state, I asked my countrymen to pray for me. I was not then a Christian. When my son died, the severest trial of my life, I was not a Christian. But when I went to Gettysburg and looked upon the graves of our dead heroes, who had fallen in the defence of their country, I there and then consecrated myself to Christ. I do love Jesus.'"
Dismiss this if you please, but first take the time to look it up in your local library's microfiche.
