Divinity United

"...for the love of letters, and the benefit of reading, are bounded, not by the time spent at school, but by the extent of life."  -- Quintilian, Institutio oratorio , 1.8.12. A great little reminder that learning is not about formal education, but learning is for life.

Quintilian in Institutio oratoria II.3: "For my part, I do not consider a man a real teacher if he is unwilling to teach little things. But I argue that the ablest teachers can teach little things best, if they will: first, because it is likely that he who excels others in eloquence, has gained the most accurate knowledge of the means by which men attain eloquence; second, because method, which, with the best qualified instructors, is always plainest, is of great efficacy in teaching; and lastly, because no man rises to such a height in greater things that the lesser fade entirely from his view."

Dorothy Sayers essay "The Lost Tools of Learning" (see the link under "Liberal Arts Resources" on the right), gives a thoughtful critique of the academic learning of her day. She echoes some thoughts found in Quintilian's preface to his Institutio Oratoria . In explaining why he is finally writing his view of oratory, Quintilian (b. c. 35 CE; d. before 100) says that he had declined his friends' requests to write because he "was well aware that some of the most distinguished Greek and Roman writers had bequeathed to posterity a number of works dealing with the subject" (1.1). However, Quintilian says that he came to the conclusion that these other authors expected their readers to know all other branches of learning before reading their work. Quintilian disagrees with this approach and claims that the early stages of education, while not being as flashy, are invalua ble. He states:   "For almost all others who have written on the art o...