Author Archives: Matthew Phillips

Obstacles to Study

Posted on November 25, 2012 by Matthew Phillips

“There are three things above all which ordinarily provide obstacles for the studies of students: carelessness, imprudence, and bad luck (fortuna).  Carelessness arises when we simply omit, or when we learn less carefully, those things which are there to be … Continue reading →

Posted in education, Hugh of St Victor, teaching | Leave a comment

Hugh’s Hermeneutics

Posted on November 20, 2012 by Matthew Phillips

“First of all, it ought to be known that Sacred Scripture has three ways of conveying meaning–namely, history, allegory, and tropology….It is necessary, therefore, so to handle the Sacred Scripture that we do not try to find history everywhere, nor allegory … Continue reading →

Posted in Hugh of St Victor, medieval, reading | 1 Comment

The Politics of Deception

Posted on November 16, 2012 by Matthew Phillips

“So it follows that a prudent ruler cannot, and must not, honour his word when it places him at a disadvantage and when the reasons for which he made his promise no longer exist.  If all men were good, this … Continue reading →

Posted in deception, government, Machiavelli | Leave a comment

Rulers Must Not Ignore History

Posted on October 27, 2012 by Matthew Phillips

“He who diligently examines past events easily foresees future ones in every country and can apply to them the remedies used by the ancients or, not finding any that have been used, can devise new ones because of the similarity … Continue reading →

Posted in government, history, Machiavelli, teaching | Leave a comment

The Necessity of Historians

Posted on October 12, 2012 by Matthew Phillips

“Triumphal arches add to the glory of illustrious men only when the writing upon them informs in whose honor they have been reared, and why.  It is the inscription that tells the spectator that the triumphal arch is that of … Continue reading →

Posted in history, John of Salisbury, memory, teaching | Leave a comment

The Foundation of the Liberal Arts

Posted on October 3, 2012 by Matthew Phillips

“Grammar takes its name from the written character, as the derivation of the word indicates.  The definition of grammar is this: Grammar is the science which teaches us to explain the poets and historians; it is the art which qualifies … Continue reading →

Posted in grammar, history, Rhabanus Maurus | 1 Comment

Encouraging zeal for inquiry

Posted on September 5, 2012 by Matthew Phillips

“Eagerness to inquire relates to practice and in it the student needs encouragement rather than instruction.  Whoever wishes to inspect earnestly what the ancients in their love of wisdom have handed down to us, and how deserving of posterity’s remembrance … Continue reading →

Posted in Hugh of St Victor, Learning, teaching, zeal | Leave a comment

Early Elementary Teaching

Posted on September 3, 2012 by Matthew Phillips

“One must lead the child to declensions and to conjugations at the same time as he is learning his letters.  Because, from the fact that the same word changes case and gender, that the first syllables remain and that the … Continue reading →

Posted in grammar, Johann Sturm, Renaissance, teaching | Leave a comment

Contemplation, leisure, action, and bishops

Posted on August 18, 2012 by Matthew Phillips

“As for these three kinds of life, the life of leisure, the life of action, and the combination of the two, anyone, to be sure, might spend his life in any of these ways without detriment to his faith, and might thus attain … Continue reading →

Posted in Augustine of Hippo, Bishops | Leave a comment

Persevere in the study of literature

Posted on August 15, 2012 by Matthew Phillips

“To desert our studies shows want of self-confidence rather than wisdom, for letters do not hinder but aid the properly constituted mind which possesses them; they facilitate our life, they do not retard it.  Just as many kinds of food … Continue reading →

Posted in Learning, Petrarch, reading, Renaissance | Leave a comment