Commonplace: May 2019

A commonplace is a traditional self-education tool: as you read, grab a notebook. Write down things that embody Truth, Goodness, and Beauty. Write down notable quotes, with or without your own thoughts about them. Write down the questions you have as a result of the text you are reading. You will find the book becomes a record of your own growth, and it becomes a touchstone for memory of things you have studied in the past. This is what Mother Culture is all about: self-directed, conscious self-education. 



True education is a form of repentance. It is a humble admission that we've not read all that we need to read, we don't know all that we need to know, and we're not yet all that we need to become. Education is that unique form of discipleship that brings us to the place of admitting our inadequacies.
-George Grant, "Repentance"


But one of the worst results of being a slave and being forced to do things is that when there is no one to force you any more you find you have almost lost the power of forcing yourself.
-The Horse and His Boy, p137




In Colonel Brandon alone, of all her new acquaintance, did Elinor find a person who could, in any degree, claim the respect of abilities, excited the interest of friendship, or give pleasure as a companion.
-Sense and Sensibility, p46


So what is gymnastic education? The whole vision for education in the classical tradition can be summarized in the proposition that education is directed at perfecting inherent human abilities. Human beings are able to do things simply because they are human. Education trains and directs these things; it does not produce them. Human beings have and are able to manipulate vocal chords; education develops this potential into articulate speech and song. We can think and remember; education develops this into logic and science. We have creative immaginations and the ability to manipulate material objects; education develops this into the fine and performing arts. Similarly, we have great physical strength and dexterity; that particular part of education called gymnastic harnesses this potential and trains it.
-The Liberal Arts Tradition, p24

I was merely thinking God’s thoughts after him. Since we astronomers are priests of the highest God in regard to the book of nature, it benefits us to be thoughtful, not of the glory of our minds, but rather, above all else, of the glory of God.
-Johanes Keppler, quoted by Brandy Vencil, Thoroughly Christian - Charlotte Mason's 20th Principle.