Commonplace Book

Here I will post commomplace book entries that I find. I might include scans of my actual book but probably it will just be the entry itself, typed. No dates.

• They should remember that the Kingdom of God stands not on the flow of eloquence but in the flowering of faith. ~St Adomnan, Life of St. Columba

• We owe it to every child to put him in communication with great minds that he may get at great thoughts, with the minds, that is, of those who have left us great works; and the only vital method of education appears to be that children should read worthy books, many worthy books. ~Charlotte Mason, Towards A Philosophy of Education

• I know that the truth stands and is mighty for ever, and abides eternally, with whom there is no respect of persons. ~John Hus, quoted by Bruce Shelley, Church History in Plain Language

• "I want, am made for, and must have a God;" -not a mere serviceable religion, -because we have in us an infinite capacity for love, loyalty and service which we cannot expend upon any other. ~Charlotte Mason, Towards A Philosophy of Education

• We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit. ~Aristotle

• Truth is so excellent that if it but praises small things, they become noble. ~Unknown, quoted by Suzanne Clark, The Roar on the Other Side

• O God of earth and altar,
  Bow down and hear our cry,
  Our earthly rulers falter,
  Our people drift and die;
  The walls of gold entomb us,
  The swords of scorn divide,
  Take not thy thunder from us,
  but take away our pride.
  ~G. K. Chesterton, "O God of earth and altar", Poems, 1915

• Four things a man must learn to do
  If he would make his record true:
  To think without confusion clearly;
  To love his fellow man sincerely;
  To act from honest motives purely;
  To trust in god and Heaven securely.
  ~Henry Van Dyke

• There is a common notion that it is our inalienable right not only to say what we please but to think as we please, that is, we believe that while the body is subject to physical laws, while the affections, love and justice are subject to moral laws, the mind is a chartered libertine...We do not perceive that the mind, too, has its tendencies both good and evil and that every inclination towards good is hindered and may be thwarted by a corresponding inclination towards evil... ~Charlotte Mason, Towards A Philosophy of Education
  
• The whole Universe is your Library: Authors, Conversations, & Remarks upon them, are your best Tutors. ~B. Whilton, in Calligraphy & Illumination: A History & Practical Guide by Patricia Lovett
  
• If I had to live my life again I would have made a rule to read some poetry and listen to some music at least once every week; for perhaps the parts of my brain now atrophied would thus have been kept active through use. The loss of these tastes is a loss of happiness, and may possibly be injurious to the intellect, and more probably to the moral character, by enfeebling the emotional part of our nature." ~Charles Darwin, quoted by "Vera" in From a Mother's Note Book, found in Parents' Review, Volume 2, "By the Way", p. 79