The following two quotes sit side-by-side in my commonplace book. I noticed them around the same time during my reading of The Living Page (where I re-read the Mason quote) and Never Give In (about Sir Winston Churchill), and they connected in my mind. I love how Churchill exemplified the ideas Charlotte Mason expressed.
Our Intellect admits us into the realms of History, we live in a great and stirring world, full of entertainment and sometimes of regret; and at last we begin to understand that we too are making History, and that we are all part of the whole; that the people who went before us were all very like ourselves, or else we should not be able to understand them. If some of them were worse than we and in some things their times were worse than ours, yet we make acquaintance with many who were noble and great, and our hearts beat with a desire to be like them. Charlotte Mason, Ourselves
History was the way he understood the world, the lens he used to bring reality into focus. Churchill thought historically, meaning that he understood life in terms of generations, great men, the succession of ages, heroic events, noble conflicts, and the linear connections of time. For him history was more than something to study; it was a way of thinking. Stephen Mansfield, Never Give In
Also read/listened to recently:
- Hubby: re-reading (or rather, listening) to the Iliad, in preparation for discussing it with Mr. E next term.
- Me: Fierce Wars and Faithful Loves – almost done!
- Miss A: “only” about 9 hours left of Les Miserable 😛
- Mr. D: he chose Fabre’s The Hunting Wasps as his Nature Study book this year. I have no idea if the Kindle edition I linked is a good one, but the cover is hilarious! 😀
- Mr. E: Animal Farm on audio
- Mr. L: I’m reading Understood Betsy to him.
- Little R: The Lion Storyteller Bedtime Book
