In my Commonplace...

4/10/2013

"I recommend both students and teacher work mostly with sources--bugs, historical documents, the live foreign language, primary texts in literature; although the analysis goes more slowly, scrutiny stays fresh and does not become second-hand. (If one studies secondary sources all the time, your education is liable to become third-rate)."

-Calvin Seerveld

8 Comments

Tammy Glaser link

4/11/2013 01:29:46 am

I love the idea of "first-hand" learning!

amy in peru link

4/17/2013 02:22:54 pm

this reminds me of what i read recently in c.s. lewis' forward to athanasius' book... something about reading old books... i did write it in my commonplace, shall i look it up for you? ;)

okay, i couldn't resist...
"Naturally, since I am a writer, I do not wish the ordinary reader to read no modern books. But if he must read only the new or only the old, I would advise him to read the old. And I would give him this advice precisely because he is an amateur and therefore much less protected than the expert against the dangers of an exclusive contemporary diet. An new book is still on its trial and the amateur is not in a position to judge it. It has to be tested against the great body of Christian thought down the ages, and all its hidden implications (often unsuspected by the author himself) have to be brought to light. Often it cannot be fully understood without the knowledge of a good many other modern books. If you join at eleven o'clock a conversation which began at eight you will often not see the real bearing of what is said."

...

"We may be sure that the characteristic blindness of the twentieth century - lies where we have never suspected it... The only palliative is to keep the clean sea breeze of the centuries blowing through our minds, and this can be done only by reading old books."

Laurie

4/17/2013 03:36:12 pm

I love this quote but do have a little sympathy with the modern writer... I hope someone will read my book but the more old books I read, the less confident I am about joining the conversation!

amy in peru link

4/17/2013 02:24:33 pm

okay... and now that i'm re-reading your entry, i also agree, because this is the real idea fodder... not the second-hand, predigested stuff. ;)

amy in peru link

4/18/2013 11:57:47 am

i know the feeling.

i have another quote by elisabeth elliot about writing in spite of the whole 'nothing new under the sun' dilemma that helps counteract this sentiment.

ahem, <i>i cannot wait</i> to read your book... of course i don't think i knew you were writing one 'til just now? matter of fact, if this is true, i don't think i can be calm until i've read it...

Laurie

5/23/2013 11:08:37 pm

of kind words Amy, you have no end. Thank you.

A sustaining sort of quote would not go amiss right about now. Who knew how much time the making of books could take....getting the notes right seems a sort of Dickensian punishment.

amy in peru link

4/18/2013 11:59:31 am

okay. you can delete that duplicate...

and just one more thing, i love that the first thing mentioned in the list you quoted is 'bugs'.

Laurie

5/23/2013 11:05:21 pm

i love that it is bugs too. i am imagining though the kinds of bugs one might encounter in Peru and wondering if i would love that....

"Ideas won't keep; something must be done about them."
- Alfred Whitehead

A Charlotte Mason education leads to all kinds of ideas! Join me in keeping one or several of the notebooks she prescribed and discover the Science of Relations and the Art of Mindfulness.

"Perhaps this is one of the secrets of life--to know 'glory' when we see it."
--Charlotte Mason

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