Here is a post by our good friend Logan, again crushing our mindgrapes with his well read head.
Dear NYAT:
I’ve been enjoying some G.K. Chesterton writing on public education.
Have you heard of him? He was in the circle with C.S. Lewis and J.
R.R. Tolkein. He’s written on virtually every subject and is
absolutely brilliant. He forces me to think like no other writer I
know. Here are a couple snippets to get us thinking:
“There is no such thing as education. The thing is merely a loose
phrase for the passing on to others of whatever truth or virtue we
happen to have ourselves. It is typical of our time that the more
doubtful we are about the value of philosophy, the more certain we are
about the value of education. That is to say, the more doubtful we
are about whether we have any truth, the more certain we are
(apparently) that we can teach it to our children.”
“[We are] shrinking from . . . the responsibility of affirming the
truth of our human tradition and handing it on with a voice of
authority, an unshaken voice. That is the one eternal education; to
be sure enough that something is true that you dare to tell it to a
child.”
Chesterton also talks about open-mindedness NOT being a virtue, that
the human mind is designed to come to conclusions. He says, “An open
mind is really a mark of foolishness, like an open mouth.” I’m
reminded of the whale shark who relieves its hunger by what’s called
“passive eating,” whereby it lets its mouth hang open and whatever
floats in, it swallows. As Chesterton puts it: “The object of opening
the mind, as of opening the mouth, is to shut it again on something
solid.”
Chesterton used to be taught in nearly every English speaking
university in the world. If you read him, you’ll understand quite
fast why he’s not read much any more at the collegiate level–he
speaks quite frankly about religion and politics and without apologies
as to how his faith influences his opinions. He was incredibly famous
in his own time and would often publicly debate the greatest minds of
his time–George Bernard Shaw and H.G. Wells chief among them. My
favorite quote of his is from a woman who came up to him on the street
and said to him, “Everybody seems to know you, Mr. Chesterton.” He
replied, “If they don’t, they ask.”
If you want a suggestion for a book this summer, I’d recommend “G.K.
Chesterton: The Apostle of Common Sense” by Dale Ahlquist. It’s an
overview of 12 of his most famous works–a quick and easy read that
will supply much to talk about and debate. Here’s a quote about
Chesterton from the book,
“This absent-minded, overgrown elf of a man, who filled up a room when
he entered it, who laughed at his own jokes and would amuse children
at birthday parties by catching buns in his mouth, this was the man
who wrote a book that led a young atheist named C.S. Lewis to become a
Christian. This was the man who wrote a novel that inspired Michael
Collins to lead a movement for Irish independence. This was the man
who wrote an essay in the Illustrated London News that inspired
Mohandas Gandhi to lead a movement to end British colonial rule in
India. This was the man who wrote a book on Charles Dickens that is
widely considered the best book ever written about that great author.”
Are you thirsty yet for some Chesterton? Drink up, my friends. Drink up.
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