The primary goal in the education of children is to teach, and to give the example of, a virtuous life.
Interpretation
Education should focus on teaching children virtuous values and leading by example.
Saint John Chrysostom emphasizes the importance of imparting not just knowledge but also moral values in the education of children. He advocates for educators and parents to exemplify virtuous living as a foundational element of their teaching, highlighting that true education shapes character and promotes ethical behavior in future generations.
In practice
During a school board meeting to discuss educational philosophies.
No one has ever been accused for not providing ornaments, but for those who neglect their neighbour a hell awaits with an inextinguishable fire and torment in the company of the demons. Do not, therefore, adorn the church and ignore your afflicted brother, for he is the most precious temple of all.
It is simply impossible to lead, without the aid of prayer, a virtuous life.
When we teach our children to be good, to be gentle, to be forgiving (all these are attributes of God), to be generous, to love their follow men, to regard this present age as nothing, we instill virtue in their souls, and reveal the image of God within them.
Abba Moses asked Abba Sylvanus, Can a person lay a new foundation every day? The old man replied, If you work hard, you can lay a new foundation every moment. Abba Pimen said, To throw yourself before God, not to measure your progress, to leave behind all self-will; these are the instruments for the work of the soul. The desire to rule is the mother of heresies.
I hear no one boast, that he hath a knowledge of the Scriptures, but that he owneth a Bible written in golden characters. And tell me then, what profiteth this? The Holy Scriptures were not given to us that we should enclose them in books, but that we should engrave them upon our hearts.
Prayer should be the means by which I, at all times, receive all that I need, and, for this reason, be my daily refuge, my daily consolation, my daily joy, my source of rich and inexhaustible joy in life.
You have to teach now - tell a kid how to box out, tell him how to pass, teach him footwork. Players don't understand that anymore.
The idea of a book that can make a change to your life, that can affect your perspective, is a beautiful and great ambition: one that Seneca, Nietzsche and Tolstoy would have sympathised with.
Eighty percent of the cases used in the typical MBA program are about successful companies. Students graduate with this notion that 'If I do everything that the people in those cases did, then my organization will grow and be successful, too.'
I myself owe everything to French books. They developed in my soul the sentiments of humanity which had been stifled by eight years of fanatical and servile education.
There are no dull subjects. There are only dull writers.
Indeed, learning to write may be part of learning to read. For all I know, writing comes out of a superior devotion to reading.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.