A feigned care for the poor has brought as much suffering on the world as poverty itself. It is not a sin to be poor, but it is a sin to pretend to pity the poor, and the wages of sin is death.
The Medieval Blacksmith Shop
It took Beatrice and me about two weeks to finish it.
Five Questions To Ask Every Teaching Candidate
“By now, there is little point asking teaching candidates to write a personal philosophy of education. Anyone who has spent ten minutes browsing classical school websites can cobble together an adequate series of statements about virtue, the “image of God,” and the seven liberal arts. Here are five better questions to ask.”
-“Five Questions To Ask Every Teaching Candidate” is my latest for CiRCE
Denis De Rougemont
“It is only “silly” questions that can enlighten us; for behind whatever seems obvious lurks something is not.”
-Denis De Rougemont, Love in the Western World
Rock And Roll Dad, Part I
Billy Corgan: The killer in me is the killer in you.
Billy Corgan’s Wife: Sure, I get that. The thing is, I still need you to tie the bread bag tight or the bread gets dry and the kids won’t eat it.
Sayings
“The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.”
-Tertullian
“The fun outreach program is the seed of the church.”
-Modern Tertullian
How The World Works
My kids: So-and-so said something disrespectful about a teacher at lunch today.
Gibbs: I see. What is So-and-so’s last name?
And then my opinion of So-and-so’s parents changes.
Does Handwriting Matter?
“Student: My handwriting is naturally messy. I can’t help it. It isn’t fair that you graded me down on this week’s essay simply because my handwriting was messy. I can’t help it. Besides, don’t my ideas matter more than my handwriting?
Gibbs: What do you mean your handwriting is “naturally messy”?
Student: No matter how hard I try, my handwriting is messy.
Gibbs: How much practice do you get handwriting?
Student: I don’t practice handwriting. Nobody in high school practices handwriting. That’s for little kids.
Gibbs: You don’t practice your handwriting, but you’re positive your handwriting couldn’t possibly get any better?”
-from “Grade My Ideas, Not My Sloppy Handwriting,” my latest for CiRCE
Sayings
When common sense is against the law, it is common sense to break the law.
How To Become A Famous Intellectual
- Write something morally reprehensible.
- Unapologetically defend it for the next thirty years.
There are still faint glimmers of civilization left in this barbaric slaughterhouse that was once known as humanity. 