E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Midwife (Anglo-Saxon, mid, with; wif, woman).
The nurse who is with the mother in her labour.
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Midwife of men’s thoughts. So Soc’rats termed himself; and, as Mr. Grote observes, “No other man ever struck out of others so many sparks to set light to original thought.” Out of his intellectual school sprang Plato and the Dialectic system; Euclid and the Megaric; Aristippos and the Cyrenaic; Antisthns and the Cynic; and his influence on the mind was never equalled by any teacher but One, of whom it was said, “Never man spake like this man.”
s termed himself; and, as Mr. Grote observes, “No other man ever struck out of others so many sparks to set light to original thought.” Out of his intellectual school sprang Plato and the Dialectic system; Euclid and the Megaric; Aristippos and the Cyrenaic; Antisth
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