Verbal Ability - Selecting Words - Discussion

The paths of glory lead but to the grave.

Gray, Thomas

Source: THOMAS GRAY, Elegy Written in a Country Church Yard, line 36, The Complete Poems of Thomas Gray, ed. H. W. Starr and J. R. Hendrickson, p. 38 . Originally published in 1751.Nobody knew that [Major General James] Wolfe, reciting Grays Elegy in 1759 as he rowed up the St. Lawrence [to Quebec] the night before his death, said that he would prefer being the author of that poem to the glory of beating the French tomorrow, until in 1815, in Vol. VII of the Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, appeared a biography of its secretary, John Robison, LL. D., professor of natural philosophy in the University of Edinburgh, who as a young man had been a midshipman in Wolfes flotilla.Carroll A. Wilson, Familiar Small College Quotations, II: Mark Hopkins and the Log, The Colophon, spring 1938, p. 204. This quote is about glory. Search on Google Books to find all references and sources for this quotation.

It is a proverb :

The paths of glory means whatever we have gained in our life, like wealth, prestige, money, everything. All these things have a very little sustenance in our life. Nothing lasts forever. We are not going to take all these things to our grave. We even do not take a drop from our treasure to the grave. We have to go alone to our grave.

So if that is the truth, then why we are becoming selfish and possessive in life. Why don't we share our wealth with those who are not that fortunate? We have to share our bits with those who needs it. Everything we achieve in this world is given by Him. Like that we also have to give something to the world.

Never brag of your fortune as we don't know when it will perish. You have only one life to live. So share, care and be happy.

Obvious Ans is But.

.
The paths of glory lead ...... to the grave.

Glory leads straight or directly to the grave. Just think - How can glory leads to the grave.
You can translate the whole sentence in your mother tongue then try it sound good with but

BUT can be used as connector b/w two sentences

i.e, - there is nothing wrong with being rich and wealthy, but the rich have to be careful and make sure they're living for God and not money.

But can be used as change meaning, the direction of the sentence by the connector.
i.e he becomes rich but very mean.

Nothing exactly suits the given question.. it is now the probability that plays major part in deciding the answer about which gives a meaningful sentence .

The paths of glory lead but to the grave ... it could be 'leads to the grave excluding but' ..

straight to the grave...!
directly to the grave ...! doesn't make much sense than using leads itself which is there in the question itself..

So its noW the part BUT , the conjunction that makes the two ends meet ..it doesn't change the quality of the sentence.. but--> adds little more efforts though.

Yes even I go with Devyansh, the answer should either be straight or directly.

but from this below poem written by Thomas Gray poem "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard".

The boast of heraldry, the pomp of pow'r,
And all that beauty, all that wealth e'er gave,
Awaits alike th'inevitable hour.
The paths of glory lead but to the grave.

THE ANSWER IS BUT.

I assume that since the path of glory is a positive thing and grave sounds negative so the preposition should be 'but' here.

It sense like what ever glory you achieve it will ultimately lead to the grave. Its my assumption, If I am wrong please explain.

Since the word lead is already used, "straight/directly" should not be used. Its like saying "comparatively better". When we use but in the above blank, the meaning of the sentence becomes " Paths of glory lead only to the grave and nowhere else".

Still it sounds.. u know what..

poets will be poets.. they go out of the way all the time..

well i learned some thing new..

but if u ask a teacher he or she will strike it down..

all the same its good to learn the poets thought

Sentence connector is used. 'The path of glory lead" is a sentence while "To the grave" is another sentence so when joining the two together you need a sentence connector and from the options "But" is the only sentence connector.

Hey guys don't get baffled.
Answer is "but", which we can use to differentiate two opinions and two statements.
In the the question Paths of glory is different from To the grave.
Hope you guys got my point?