Apart from producing a polished and impressive gentleman, what is liberal education for? Is there something beyond the polish? A good, all-round #education is not just about a certain style or the acquisition of facts, but about developing the ability to think clearly, to understand and use language well, to conceptualise. Knowledge without prudence, discretion, wisdom or #discernment can be a dangerous thing, for the young person concerned, but also for society at large.
St John Henry Newman writes: “This is real cultivation of mind; and I do not deny that the characteristic excellences of a #gentleman are included in it. Nor need we be ashamed that they should be … Certainly a #liberaleducation does manifest itself in a #courtesy, propriety, and polish of word and action, which is beautiful in itself, and acceptable to others; but it does much more. It brings the mind into form,—for the mind is like the body. #Boys outgrow their shape and their strength; their limbs have to be knit together, and their constitution needs tone.
Mistaking animal spirits for vigour, and overconfident in their health, ignorant what they can bear and how to manage themselves, they are immoderate and extravagant; and fall into sharp sicknesses. This is an emblem of their minds; at first they have no principles laid down within them as a foundation for the intellect to build upon; they have no discriminating convictions, and no grasp of consequences. And therefore they talk at random, if they talk much, and cannot help being flippant, or what is emphatically called “young.” They are merely dazzled by phenomena, instead of perceiving things as they are.” From The Idea of a University
“The #IdeaOfAUniversity“. #catholiceducation#catholicschool#boysboardingschool#privateschool
Catholic boarding schools 