Monthly Archives: May 2015

The Foundations of Understanding

“Tender years should first be instructed in rules of the art or grammar, in analogies, in barbarisms, in solecisms, in tropes and schemata.  These are the studies on which Donatus, Servius, Priscian, Isidore, Bede, and Cassiodorus expounded with much diligence, … Continue reading

Posted in Learning, liberal arts, medieval, teaching | Leave a comment

Luther on Rulers and History

“A prince must also be very wise and not always try to impose his will, even if he has the right and the best of all reasons to do so.  For it is a far nobler virtue to put up … Continue reading

Posted in government, history, Martin Luther | Leave a comment

Cicero on Wisdom and Action

“The foremost of all the virtues is the wisdom that the Greeks call sophia.  (Good sense, which they call phronensis, we realize is something distinct, that is the knowledge of things that one should pursue and avoid.) But the wisdom … Continue reading

Posted in Cicero, virtue, wisdom | Leave a comment