Since (A)/ When (B) Narcissus fell in love with a reflection, a few lines later in Ovid’s poem, he did not recognize himself.

Indeed(A) /Instead(B), he recoiled in horror as soon as it dawned on him that it was his own face that he had been admiring in a pool.

So truly (A)/ Still (B), Narcissus was enraptured not by a “selfie”, but by what he took to be a non-selfie.

As (A)/ Though(B) he was certainly guilty of pride, the poor boy, notorious for alleged self-absorption, may have been unfairly judged for the past 2,000 years.

The continued presence of Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon helps explain why the Lebanese are loathe(A)/loath(B) to establish camps for Syrians fleeing the civil war.

Their shear (A)/sheer (B) numbers make it impossible for the refugees to be appropriately sheltered and protected.

Such a large number of refugees in a country like Lebanon, where the ethnic and religious balance is so fragile, is galvanizing (A)/rattling (B) a government that was having difficulty functioning anyway.

There is growing concern over the outbreak of violent confrontations of (A)/between (B) the Lebanese and the refugees, and over a loss of control of the refugee enclaves.

Unlikely as it may seem, utilitarian bioethics is the counterpart (A)/ remonstrance (B) to animal rights in the war on human exceptionalism.

While (A)/ But (B) animal right proponents seek to elevate some animals to the level of humans, utilitarian bioethics advocates would reduce nascent human life to the status of animals.

If either view prevails, our equal rights would become ephemeral (A)/ineluctable (B), based on subjective personhood rather than intrinsic humanity.

Our value would depend on the moment of measuring, leaving us ever vulnerable to depersonalization and perhaps even the concomitant(A)/ concordant (B) loss of what today are called universal human rights.

Exposure markedly (A)/ marginally (B) affects preference.

In that way, all canons (A)/ cannons (B) are flawed and fluid. They do not include the indisputable ‘best of the best’.

Ergo (A)/ But (B) they do a pretty good job of distilling a civilization's high points.

So they are immensely interesting objects of query(A)/ inquiry(B).

Celebrity has become an incurable condition, without remission (A)/omission (B).

Fame is a treadmill, and having your own gym does not seem to make the legwork any (A)/far (B) easier.

When Gore Vidal said of Truman Capote that his death was a good career move, it was mere waspish provocation, so (A)/but (B) the same assertion could be made without irony about Jean Harlow, James Dean and Marilyn Monroe.

The flesh-and-blood person is surplus to requirements once an icon has been created, and (A)/but (B) often becomes an active embarrassment.