Sometimes it seems as though good manners have gotten a bad rap these days.  That the vulgar and unrefined is celebrated far more than the decent and polite.  Whether in business and politics or show business and the arts, the...

Yesterday, we observed that the primary civic institution is the family.  And while it is true that we cannot neglect our obligations to that first and most fundamental institution, we all still have civic duties that extend beyond it. In...

Thu 3/7/2024 8:08 AM One of the errors we contemporary Americans are prone to make is to confuse civics with politics.  We often think of civics entirely in terms of government institutions, voting for political candidates, asserting our constitutional rights,...

The Federalist Papers were a series of essays, written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay, under the penname Publius.  They were an attempt to persuade the newly independent American states to ratify—that is, vote to approve—the Constitution.  While...

Tue 3/5/2024 9:11 AM This week we’re talking about civics. Americans love to speak of self-government.   We’re proud of the fact that we exchanged the despotism of King George III for a representative government in the form of a democratic...

This week, we will consider the subject of civics, which is the study of the rights and responsibilities of citizens.  It is not just for people who are into politics or philosophy.  You all will study civics in your time here at...

The Roman philosopher Boethius once wrote, “To understand the lofty Thunderer’s laws with true insight and objectivity, lift your eyes to the highest rooftop of the heavens.”  But of course, he wrote it in Latin, not English. His work, On the...

On Monday, I asked why we would bother studying a dead language like Latin.  Well, it was sort of trick question: Latin isn’t dead at all. Yes, it is worth studying to make your mind stronger; and it is worth...

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe said: “Those who know nothing of foreign languages know nothing of their own.” This is especially true of Latin for those of us in what is called “the West,” precisely because of how it has influenced...

Those of you in 4th and 5th grade are learning Greek and Latin roots.  The entire upper school takes a course in Latin each year, at least through 9th grade.  Perhaps you have wondered why we do this?  After all, Latin is a...