Education
‹ 2 · Outline · 4 ›
3.The duties and methods of parents
3a.The duty of parents to rear and instruct their children
See also: Family 7d
Confucius, The Sayings of ConfuciusVol. 44
- p. 56–57Po-yii is taught poetry and courtesy by his father; a gentleman keeps aloof from his son.read · scan
Plato, CritoVol. 2
- p. 33A father who brings children into the world must persevere in their nurture and education.read · scan
- p. 42Question whether his children would be better brought up in Thessaly or Athens.read · scan
Ecclesiastes; or, The PreacherVol. 44
- p. 348–349Teaching the people and admonishing a son; endless books and study weary the flesh.read · scan
Marcus Tullius Cicero, Letters of CiceroVol. 9
- p. 111–113He promises to do wonders teaching the boy if he can have him at leisure away from Rome.read · scan
- p. 114–115The boy keeps working with his rhetoric master; his ability and application leave no cause for anxiety.read · scan
- p. 130–131Asks about the studies and training of Lentulus's son, whom Cicero regards as his own.read · scan
- p. 171–172Letters and tutors' reports show his son's progress in his studies.read · scan
Plutarch, DemosthenesVol. 12
- p. 192–193Demosthenes' guardians embezzled his estate and defrauded his teachers, and his sickly health and indulgent mother denied him a proper education.read · scan
Pliny the Younger, Letters of PlinyVol. 9
- p. 195Euphrates educates his children carefully and instructs others with refined precepts.read · scan
- p. 309She sends him away to his studies whenever she amuses herself, out of reverence for the youth.read · scan
Saint Augustine, The Confessions of St. AugustineVol. 7
- p. 25Both parents desired his learning; his mother thought it a furtherance toward God.read · scan
Sir Thomas More, UtopiaVol. 36
- p. 232–236Utopian prayer and the commonwealth's praise; parents there need not fear for children's livelihood. Education is barely touched.read · scan
Benvenuto Cellini, The Autobiography of Benvenuto CelliniVol. 31
- p. 20–21The father wants the household trained to virtuous honesty and the son bent on learning.read · scan
- p. 37–39Father says his sons' virtue bears witness to how he brought them up.read · scan
William Shakespeare, The TempestVol. 46
- p. 399Prospero as schoolmaster has taught Miranda more profitably than other princesses have been taught.read · scan
John Locke, Some Thoughts Concerning EducationVol. 37
- p. 14–15As years increase, liberty must come with them and the child must be trusted to his own conduct through principles put into his mind.read · scan
- p. 28–29Locke argues parents neglect early discipline of children and even teach them violence and revenge, corrupting their minds.read · scan
- p. 31Parents have a duty to provide better instruction than the vice children are taught.read · scan
- p. 80Treating the son as a man raises his mind above youthful trifles and makes him become one.read · scan
- p. 81Open confidence lets the father know and guide the son's designs and prevent mischief.read · scan
- p. 81–82Advice given kindly, crediting the son's good judgment, preserves authority and love.read · scan
- p. 83–84Early formation of reverence and weeding out of stubbornness and lying lays the foundation for virtue in the child.read · scan
- p. 91Parents must guard small slips early to instruct ignorance and prevent ill habits growing into dishonesty.read · scan
- p. 102Correct the root of a child's fault and cherish benignity and compassion by gentle methods.read · scan
William Penn, Some Fruits of SolitudeVol. 1
- p. 342Parents must mend themselves and teach children what they should be, not what we are; guard their passions.read · scan
John Woolman, The Journal of John WoolmanVol. 1
- p. 230–231Early settlers sought to educate their children in the fear of the Lord.read · scan
Immanuel Kant, Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysic of MoralsVol. 32
- p. 326Parents have children taught many skills for unknown future ends but neglect forming their judgment of ends' value.read · scan
Oliver Goldsmith, She Stoops to ConquerVol. 18
- p. 205–206Mrs. Hardcastle thinks a rich boy needs little learning; Hardcastle sees learning as mere tricks and mischief.read · scan
- p. 230–231She complains of the pains taken in rearing and educating Tony, who resents her smothering care.read · scan
- p. 251–252She says she'll put off Tony's education like Dr. Drowsy's sermons; he can barely read the letter.read · scan
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Hermann and DorotheaVol. 19
- p. 352–353Father complains of Hermann's poor schooling and lowest seat, and says he himself would have been better with schooling.read · scan
Robert Burns, Poems and SongsVol. 6
- p. 54–56He promises she will be bred with education as well as any child of wedlock.read · scan
Alessandro Manzoni, I Promessi Sposi (The Betrothed)Vol. 21
- p. 642–643Renzo wants all his children to learn to read and write.read · scan
John Stuart Mill, AutobiographyVol. 25
- p. 8James Mill devoted daily effort to giving his son the highest order of intellectual education.read · scan
John Stuart Mill, On LibertyVol. 25
- p. 277Society controls childhood training and can make the rising generation rational; failing that, it has itself to blame.read · scan
- p. 298–301The State should require and compel education of every child to a standard; parents have a sacred duty to educate.read · scan
Richard Henry Dana, Jr., Two Years Before the MastVol. 23
- p. 269Despite delicate rearing and indulgence, his education was sadly neglected before he was sent to sea.read · scan
3b.Parental example, religious upbringing and catechising
See also: Prudence 2b · Family 8d · Religion 6c
The Book of PsalmsVol. 44
- p. 181The psalmist calls children to hear and teaches them the fear of Jehovah.read · scan
- p. 226–229God has taught the psalmist from youth; he will pass on God's strength to the next generation.read · scan
- p. 239–240Commandment to teach the law and God's deeds to each coming generation so they will not forget.read · scan
Hymns of the Christian Church: Greek HymnsVol. 45
- p. 541–543Christ as shepherd and guide of tender youth; children brought to sing praise.read · scan
Saint Augustine, The Confessions of St. AugustineVol. 7
- p. 145Adeodatus is raised in God's discipline; the dialogue The Master records his ideas.read · scan
Stories from the Thousand and One NightsVol. 16
- p. 104The old woman is charged with rearing and instructing the prince, and secretly teaches him Islamic faith and ordinances.read · scan
Sir Thomas More, UtopiaVol. 36
- p. 229–232Utopian churches and festivals are described; the education theme is only faintly present, in priestly guidance of devotion.read · scan
- p. 232Children kneel to parents seeking pardon; young are seated with elders so they are supervised and learn religious fear, the incitement to virtue.read · scan
William Harrison, A Description of Elizabethan EnglandVol. 35
- p. 265–266Youth are catechised for an hour on Sunday afternoons.read · scan
Izaak Walton, The Life of Mr. George HerbertVol. 15
- p. 399He urges parishioners to attend afternoon service and catechising, persuading them by reasons and example.read · scan
- p. 399–400He teaches his parishioners the reasons for the service so they may pray with understanding.read · scan
- p. 400He instructs the congregation on why the hymns are sung.read · scan
- p. 402Herbert teaches his congregation the reasons behind each liturgical practice.read · scan
- p. 403Herbert instructs his parishioners in the meaning and use of the holy-days.read · scan
- p. 403–404Herbert catechises every Sunday afternoon and explains the reasons for observances to his plain congregation.read · scan
- p. 406–407Restoring catechising is urged as key to the salvation of the ignorant.read · scan
Blaise Pascal, Minor WorksVol. 48
- p. 374Early Christians were perfectly instructed in what salvation required; today there is gross ignorance.read · scan
- p. 375Contrasts formerly well-instructed Christians with today's ignorance; sponsors are bound to instruct baptized children in their vows.read · scan
- p. 376Early Church instructed catechumens fully before baptism; now negligent parents let Christians grow old ignorant of their religion.read · scan
- p. 377When instruction preceded baptism all were instructed; now that baptism comes first, instruction is neglected as men think it unnecessary.read · scan
John Bunyan, The Pilgrim's ProgressVol. 15
- p. 227–228Prudence catechises Christiana's children, commending their mother's upbringing; the boys answer on God, salvation and man.read · scan
- p. 229–230Boys are catechised and praised as well taught by their mother.read · scan
- p. 230–231Prudence urges the boys to heed their mother, good talk, the heavens and earth, and Scripture, and offers to teach them.read · scan
- p. 234–235Boys question Prudence and are catechized through instructive natural emblems.read · scan
- p. 235–236Matthew's questions and Prudence's answers as instruction of a child.read · scan
- p. 266–267Milk is for the boys that they may grow, and honey strengthens judgment and understanding.read · scan
- p. 285–286Children there receive good nurture and admonition and are taught to walk in right paths.read · scan
John Locke, Some Thoughts Concerning EducationVol. 37
- p. 49Children must be kept from the ill examples of vicious servants and kept in their parents' company.read · scan
- p. 100–101A mother taught daughters diligence and good nature by making them responsible for pets.read · scan
- p. 115–116Parents' aims for a son: virtue, wisdom, breeding, learning; religious foundations laid early in a child's mind.read · scan
- p. 116Children's tender minds must be protected from terrifying notions of spirits and goblins, often instilled by servants.read · scan
- p. 116–118Fools who frighten children must be countered by teaching that God made night for sleep.read · scan
- p. 133Give children suitable scriptural stories and plain moral rules, then a catechism in scripture's words, learned by heart as exercise of memory.read · scan
Jean Racine, PhaedraVol. 26
- p. 175–177Hippolytus cites his chaste mother and the wise Pittheus who instructed him.read · scan
Benjamin Franklin, His AutobiographyVol. 1
- p. 11–12Table talk on the good, just and prudent formed the children's attention rather than food.read · scan
Samuel Johnson, Life of Addison, 1672-1719Vol. 27
- p. 155–156Johnson traces Addison's schooling from domestic piety through several schools, insisting the masters of illustrious men be named.read · scan
John Woolman, The Journal of John WoolmanVol. 1
- p. 169Taught to read early; religious upbringing and scripture reading shape the child's character.read · scan
- p. 187–188Father imprinted principles of virtue and tenderness toward the poor and all creatures.read · scan
- p. 246–247He urges women to educate their children in humility and disuse of superfluities.read · scan
- p. 291–292Concern that youth be trained where they are exampled and instructed in the fear of the Lord; dangers to lads at sea.read · scan
Robert Burns, Poems and SongsVol. 6
- p. 134–136Father mixes admonition due with the children's talk.read · scan
- p. 186–187He drills the boys on the catechism Questions on Sundays until wee Davock can recite Effectual Calling.read · scan
- p. 198–200Recommending a boy for a post where he'll be catechised and set a good exampleread · scan
Robert Southey, PoemsVol. 41
- p. 732–734Grandfather instructs the children about the past.read · scan
Alessandro Manzoni, I Promessi Sposi (The Betrothed)Vol. 21
- p. 350–351Childhood instruction in religion formed his character and convictions.read · scan
- p. 608–609Children should be raised for God, with love of Him and all men; then all else follows.read · scan
Hans Christian Andersen, TalesVol. 17
- p. 358Confirmation marks the passage from childhood to more understanding, though some come only for a ball-dress.read · scan
John Stuart Mill, AutobiographyVol. 25
- p. 32His father's teaching that he must conceal his unbelief had moral disadvantages.read · scan
Walter Bagehot, John MiltonVol. 28
- p. 176Milton's early avid study, encouraged by his father, shaped his austere character and works.read · scan
3c.Hardening the young and restraining their appetites
See also: Pleasure and Pain 6b · Medicine 2b · Temperance 2b · Habit 3a
Virgil, The AeneidVol. 13
- p. 305Youth hardened from the cradle by cold, hunting and martial sports.read · scan
- p. 366Camilla is trained from infancy in hunting and weapons, a rough upbringing shaping her as huntress-warrior.read · scan
Tacitus, GermanyVol. 33
- p. 104Children reared plainly and naked, lord and slave alike, until freeborn are separated by bravery.read · scan
Saint Augustine, The Confessions of St. AugustineVol. 7
- p. 147The old maid restrained and taught her master's daughters with holy severity, forbidding even water between meals.read · scan
The Story of the Volsungs and NiblungsVol. 49
- p. 267Sigmund hardens the boy with manly deeds and raiding in the woods before he will use him in revenge.read · scan
Michel de Montaigne, Of the Institution and Education of ChildrenVol. 32
- p. 37–40Children should travel early, learn foreign tongues, and be hardened away from indulgent parents.read · scan
- p. 40Body must be strengthened along with mind; tutor's authority should not be undermined by parents' indulgence.read · scan
John Locke, Some Thoughts Concerning EducationVol. 37
- p. 16Recommends bread-only breakfast for his young master, modeled on Roman upbringing.read · scan
- p. 18–19Advises irregular meal hours and plain dry bread for children so they are fit for study and for bearing arms.read · scan
- p. 19Teaches children to forbear and not make customary what one would not have continue.read · scan
- p. 20Servants must be watched lest they corrupt the child with drink; over-strict restraint makes children ravenous.read · scan
- p. 21Early training in sleep habits indisposes the boy to late hours and midnight revels.read · scan
- p. 22Sleep allowance for children should be gradually reduced by temperament; wake them gently, never with fright.read · scan
- p. 23Hardy lodging prepares the boy for travel and changes, not softness of a mother's fine cup.read · scan
- p. 25Advises applying the routine to a child daily after breakfast.read · scan
- p. 26Summarizes rules for children's bodily regimen: air, exercise, sleep, plain diet, cold feet.read · scan
- p. 32Children must be denied what they cry for, so that crying never wins them anything; discreet governors are needed.read · scan
- p. 86Restraint on asking for things forms the child's discipline.read · scan
- p. 86–87Children should be inured to hardship for strength of body and mind, without breaking spirits or health.read · scan
- p. 91–93Crying in children must not be tolerated; educational aim concerns children themselves, and stubborn crying is domineering insolence.read · scan
- p. 94Locke advises parents not to pity or bemoan children's crying over small hurts, but to harden them against suffering.read · scan
- p. 95Crying from pride is cured by severity, crying from softness by gentleness, left to the parent's prudence.read · scan
- p. 96–97Fortitude can be cultivated in children by right management, and neglect explains its rarity in men.read · scan
- p. 97–98Keep children from frights when young, then gradually accustom them to what they fear.read · scan
- p. 98–99Cure children's fears by gradual exposure, as with the frog, step by step.read · scan
- p. 99–100Sparta shows how education can reconcile the young to suffering, though Locke does not propose its discipline.read · scan
- p. 100Toughen timid children by gradual, gently administered pain within a context of evident love and kindness.read · scan
William Penn, More Fruits of SolitudeVol. 1
- p. 384Homely breeding is better; learning to live on little owes more to a father's wisdom than inheritance.read · scan
- p. 384Children should be hardly bred; strict youth institution of the ancients used labor to prevent luxury.read · scan
John Woolman, The Journal of John WoolmanVol. 1
- p. 203Children trained up in frugality and business.read · scan
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Hermann and DorotheaVol. 19
- p. 400–401The neighbor's father cured his childish impatience by having him picture the coffin-maker's work, teaching patience through thought of death.read · scan
3d.Parents' choice of a child's vocation and its limits
See also: Family 8e
Stories from the Thousand and One NightsVol. 16
- p. 341Father tries to teach his son a handicraft, but the boy will not learn.read · scan
Dante Alighieri, ParadiseVol. 20
- p. 318–319Men are wrongly forced against their natural bent: one born for the sword is made a priest, and the fluent speaker a king.read · scan
Benvenuto Cellini, The Autobiography of Benvenuto CelliniVol. 31
- p. 12Debate over whether the boy should learn music alone or other arts; Soderini urges broader teaching.read · scan
- p. 19The father wants one son a musician and the other a learned jurist; nature's inclinations resist his plans.read · scan
Miguel de Cervantes, The History of Don Quixote of the Mancha, Part IVol. 14
- p. 382He directs the sons to follow book, merchandise or war as vocations.read · scan
Francis Bacon, Essays, Civil and MoralVol. 3
- p. 19–20Parents should choose children's vocations early while they are flexible, and custom will make the choice easy.read · scan
John Locke, Some Thoughts Concerning EducationVol. 37
- p. 90Free recreation reveals children's tempers and aptitudes, guiding parents in choosing their course of life and remedies.read · scan
Benjamin Franklin, His AutobiographyVol. 1
- p. 96Sent his nephew to school then trained him in printing.read · scan
John Woolman, The Journal of John WoolmanVol. 1
- p. 294–295Argues a pious father cannot peaceably place his son as apprentice among corrupt seamen; profane examples corrupt.read · scan
- p. 301Seafaring life is opposed to pious education and gives dangerous examples to youth; he wants a different upbringing for them.read · scan
Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in FranceVol. 24
- p. 231Constant change would make steady education impossible, so parents and instructors cannot prepare children for a settled place.read · scan
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Hermann and DorotheaVol. 19
- p. 354–356Mother argues children cannot be fashioned to a parent's fancy; teach them as best we can and let each follow his nature.read · scan
Alessandro Manzoni, I Promessi Sposi (The Betrothed)Vol. 21
- p. 145Gertrude is raised from infancy with nun dolls, name and admonitions to shape her toward the cloister.read · scan
- p. 145–146At six Gertrude is placed in the monastery, where flattery and privileges are designed to bind her to the vocation.read · scan
John Stuart Mill, AutobiographyVol. 25
- p. 53–54Mill is trained by his father for a successor's post; Ellis is noted for exertions to improve education.read · scan
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