Patrick Henry's stirring "Give Me Liberty" speech is worth reading, memorizing or even (especially!) reciting aloud. Henry's reference to the "song of the sirens" in this excerpt offers yet another glimpse of the familiarity with the classics that our nation's founders possessed.

It was, as I have said, a fine autumnal day; the sky was clear and serene, and nature wore that rich and golden livery which we always associate with the idea of abundance. The forests had put on their sober brown and yellow . . ..

Hard Times, by Charles Dickens, a favorite read of classical educators everywhere – how NOT to do it! – is full of brilliant and biting commentary on an educational system that ignores the soul-building stuff of the poetic imagination in favor of facts and figures.

Spending a bit of time reviewing my commonplace books, I came across these timely words from the Prince of Preachers, rich with the figures of biblical allusion, metaphor, simile, personification and more. So grateful for the comfort and encouragement this lifetime habit affords.

"Children who play the violin or study piano could be learning more than just Mozart."...This article popped up in my newsfeed today. Just minutes before, I had read in Plato

Charles Dickens' tale of Mr. Boffin and his 'great books course' is a delightful illustration of the fact that Dickens knew his classics well and easily takes his place in the Great Conversation.

Speaking of Plutarch, years ago I commonplaced this encouraging glimpse into his self-education in Latin from the Life of Demosthenes:

Another gem from my summer reading.

And the dawn rose triumphant, making flee

The morning breeze before her; and far off

I recognized the shimmering of the sea.

~ Dante, Purgatory I.115-117

Plutarch, as relevant as ever:

A Conversation About Love originally posted January, 2015:

Two passages from my commonplace book; first, this from The Brothers Karamazov:

“She was a woman of practical good sense and strong cheerfulness, She knew that the world was risky and that she must risk her surviving child to it.” Wendell Berry’s arresting description of Nancy Feltner, a woman who had endured unthinkable sorrows.  

The right way to teach literature to young people.

In the pages of my Commonplace Book, I record a thread of the Great Conversation where Dostoyevsky and Lewis speak in concert about the Golden Rule and how it can be so subtly distorted.

Tho' much is taken, much abides, and tho'
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts . . .

Therefore, in reading profane authors, the admirable light of truth displayed in them should remind us, that the human mind, however much fallen and perverted from its original integrity, is still adorned and invested with admirable gifts from its Creator.

from Eva Brann’s Homeric Moments: My father, a physician who was educated in a German classical gymnasium, cherished the following story: His Greek professor, bidding goodbye to a student being withdrawn by his father for a business apprenticeship, was heard to say sorrowfully: