The Humanities Are Like The Great Old

Freedom Of The Mind Requires Not Only, Or Not Even Especially The Absence Of Legal Constraints But The Presence Of Alternative Thoughts.

It Was Not Necessarily The Best Of Times In America When Catholics And Protestants Were Suspicious Of And Hated One Another; But At Least They Were Taking Their Beliefs Seriously, And The More Or Less Satisfactory Accommodations They Worked Out Were Not Simply The Result Of Apathy About The State Of Their Souls.

In America We Have Only The Bourgeoisie, And The Love Of The Heroic Is One Of The Few Counterpoises Available To Us. In Us The Contempt For The Heroic Is Only An Extension Of The Perversion Of The Democratic Principle That Denies Greatness And Wants Everyone To Feel Comfortable In His Skin Without Having To Suffer Unpleasant Comparisons. Students Have Not The Slightest Notion Of What An Achievement It Is To Free Oneself From Public Guidance And Find Resources For Guidance Within Oneself.

Classical Music Is A Special Taste Like Greek Language Or Pre-columbian Archeology, Not A Common Culture Of Reciprocal Communication And Psychological Shorthand.

Openness, As Currently Conceived, Is A Way Of Making Surrender To Whatever Is Most Powerful, Or Worship Of Vulgar Success, Look Principled.