Wednesday, November 30, 2022

Thomas Huxley's "A Liberal Education and Where to Find It " 1868

 When I was in the 11th Grade - a bazillion years ago😊- in English Class, Mr. Humphrey had each student memorize, and then recite in front of the class, the following portion of Thomas Huxley's " A Liberal Education and Where to Find It", to bad so few of our nationally elected officials live by it.....


That man, I think, has had a liberal education who has been so trained in youth that his body is the ready servant of his will, and does with ease and pleasure all the work that, as a mechanism, it is capable of; whose intellect is a clear, cold, logic engine, with all its parts of equal strength, and in smooth working order; ready, like a steam engine, to be turned to any kind of work, and spin the gossamers as well as forge the anchors of the mind; whose mind is stored with a knowledge of the great and fundamental truths of Nature and of the laws of her operations; one who, no stunted ascetic, is full of life and fire, but whose passions are trained to come to heel by a vigorous will, the servant of a tender conscience; who has learned to love all beauty, whether of Nature or of art, to hate all vileness, and to respect others as himself. 


If they did, perhaps, just perhaps, our country would be less divided, and more civilized towards one another.  


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