Veritas et Virtus

Daniel Gibson

The Official Blog of Columbus Classical Academy

The Honor Code calls us to be dutiful in service.  And as we saw yesterday, that is a bit like saying, as slaves, we should fulfill our obligations to our master; to serve the one we owe. But the idea...

The word duty comes from the same root as the words due and debt, as in, what is owed; and the word service comes from the Latin word for slave.  So, to be dutiful in service is to consider our actions for others to...

Aesop’s fable tells of the ant, who works diligently all summer to store food for the winter, while the grasshopper sings and dances, but then has nothing to eat when the weather turns.  Proverbs 6 also tells us, “Go to...

If diligence in study is an act of love, and there are things other than school that we already love, then why, you may ask, must we diligently study what all the grown-ups have chosen for us?  What’s wrong with...

Yesterday we observed that diligence is an act of love.  Well, then, it should come as no surprise to you that the origin of the word diligent is the Latin word diligere, which means to “value highly” or “to love.”  And...

Have you ever wondered why the Honor Code includes diligence in study?  I mean, honesty, upright conduct…sure, they make sense in a code of honor.  But isn’t “diligence in study” just a fancy of way for your teachers to tell you...

The man of life upright,Whose chearfull minde is freeFrom waight of impious deedes,And yoake of vanitee, The man whose silent dayesIn harmelesse joyes are spent:Whom hopes cannot delude,Nor sorrowes discontent, That man needes neyther towres,Nor armour for defence:Nor vaults his...

Act as though the world is watching.  It is good and helpful advice—but it also is the mark of a man who has not yet trained himself to do the right thing, simply because it is the right thing.  Instead,...

Yesterday we noted that the animal and the criminal are crouched and crooked, while the upright man is tall and straight.  But these are just metaphors.  How do we put it into practice? Thomas Jefferson, in a letter to Peter...

Welcome back – I hope you all had a nice, long weekend.  Last week, we considered what it means to be honest in all things; this week, we’ll reflect on the second part of the Honor Code—being upright in conduct. ...