Everyone who learns a little bit about educational history in the U.S. learns about John Dewey. His published ideas, which would seem commonplace and hardly revolutionary today, caused a change in the system of education throughout American public schools which seemed at the time quite momentous. Ordinary people noticed it and referred to “the new schools.” I get these things from reading old books. A few points about all this before moving on. We are still living with Dewey. I dare say that my own essay, below, will be accidentally… Read more Some Principles of Education for People Who Don’t Want Education to Drain their Children Dry →
To Margot When I go free,I think ’twill beA night of stars and snow,And the wild fires of frost shall lightMy footsteps as I go;Nobody – nobody will be thereWith groping touch, or sight,To see me in my bush of hairDance burning through the night. Here’s a little lyrical gem that I’ve loved for a long time. It makes an immediate impression and you don’t even really need to know that a Salamander (or Salamandral) is a mythical creature with a strange relationship to fire. In some version, the salamander’s… Read more Poetry Survey Post 3: The Little Salamander by Walter de la Mare →
Augustine – a breathtaking poem by a friend.
What is that thing that is missing from your life which, when you think of it or see it held by others, makes you weep? Our world is so reduced… Read more What Makes Me Weep →
For that pompous sounding title I decline to offer abject explanations. I’ve talked before about my trail of delight theory – I believe that truth and beauty and goodness have a taste, mentally speaking, and that when you read for delight you learn that taste and it leads you from one book to the next. The result is not only that after a while you have read a number of good books, but also that you’ve cultivated a greater critical facility, love for truth, reading skills, and so on. Partly… Read more How To Read a Book: An Advanced Theory →
I think there is a general understanding that religious people should also be good people. But how long has it been since religious people seriously examined the questions: What makes a good person good?
If I allow my mind to flit back to the days of my youth in search of a representative scene or day, I usually come up with a composite picture that racks me with nostalgic longing. Me, huddled by a window or on a porch swing, reading a classic novel and listening to classical music. The swing swims in a weightless atmosphere of gold and green – sunlight filtering through leaves that toss like confetti, dappling the grasses and dandelions. Every breeze, sight, sound, and smell affirm what I am hearing… Read more Listening to the Better Parts of our World →
Slow Literature 