Category Archives: Hugh of St Victor

More Than a Feeling

“For virtue is nothing else than an affection of the mind ordered according to reason, and such affections are said to be very numerous according to the various inclinations of the same mind, yet having one root and origin, the … Continue reading

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Pride Takes God from Man

“Now these are: first, pride; second, envy; third, anger; fourth, despair; fifth, covetousness, sixth, gluttony; seventh, lust.  Of these, three despoil man (hominem); the fourth scourges him when despoiled; the fifth ejects him when scourged; the sixth seduces him when … Continue reading

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Unlock the Hidden Places of Learning

“A certain wise man, when asked concerning the method and form of study, declared: A humble mind, eagerness to inquire, a quiet life,                                   … Continue reading

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Hugh of St. Victor on the Sacred Scriptures

“For the whole Divine Scripture is one Book, and the one Book is Christ, for the whole Divine Scripture speaks of Christ and is fulfilled in Christ.  Our purpose in reading Scripture is that, by gaining knowledge of what He … Continue reading

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History is the Foundation of Sacred Learning

“First you learn history and diligently commit to memory the truth of the deeds that have been performed, reviewing from beginning to end what has been done, when it has been done, where it has been done, and by whom … Continue reading

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Obstacles to Study

“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

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Hugh’s Hermeneutics

“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

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Encouraging zeal for inquiry

“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

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The Stomach of Your Memory

“We ought, therefore, in all that we learn, to gather brief and dependable abstracts to be stored in the little chest of the memory, so that later on, when need arises, we can derive everything else from them.  These one … Continue reading

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The Good Student

“The good student, then, ought to be humble and docile, free alike from vain cares and from sensual indulgences, diligent and zealous to learn willingly from all, to presume never upon his own knowledge, to shun the authors of perverse … Continue reading

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