Library of Congress speaks to the exhausted teacher: Words to lift the spirit

Peter Huidekoper, Jr.                                                                         Dec. 19, 2016

THE NOBLEST MOTIVE IS THE PUBLIC GOOD  - Virgil

A teacher hits the holiday break and collapses.  I spoke with a shaken young teacher in October.  Several of her colleagues quit this first semester, but she has made it. “It’s been tough,” she reports.

To her and to all of you seeking more than just R & R these next two weeks, who seek a reminder of why you matter and why your efforts with our kids are so important, here’s a small gift: words from the walls of the Library of Congress. 

On recent visits to Washington, D.C., I have walked around this magnificent building. I consume the quotes carved into walls, on panels, over mantels.  They nourish the soul.

I taught 18 years and stay involved in education.  While I no longer put in 70-hour weeks and go home wondering if those three difficult boys or the lack of support from the school administration or The System are too much for me, I too ask, from time to time: Does our work matter?  What’s it all for?

We lift our heads to read the quotes.  Passages and maxims that put our classroom, our school, our advocacy in perspective. Reminders that we are part of a long, noble tradition.  That our work, immodest as it may sound, is at the heart of a strong civilization. That we have a higher purpose. 

In the here and now, our focus on accountability, test scores, and school performance frameworks—vital as they are—can blind us to that higher purpose.  Only rarely have our Presidents or Congressional leaders been able to articulate why education matters.  I doubt we will hear it these next four years.

But take a five minute walk, east, from the Capitol. There on the walls of the Library’s Thomas Jefferson Building, we find meaning.  Perhaps enduring truths.  And—spoiler alert!—not one mention of PARCC or SAT, nor of NCLB or ESSA.  Instead, words to lift the spirit.  Words that say—yes, our work does matter. 

Happy Holidays!

THE FOUNDATION OF EVERY STATE IS THE EDUCATION OF ITS YOUTH - Dionysius

KNOWLEDGE IS POWER – Francis Bacon

GIVE INSTRUCTION UNTO THOSE WHO CANNOT PROCURE IT FOR THEMSELVES - Confucius

THERE IS ONE ONLY GOOD, NAMELY, KNOWLEDGE; AND ONE ONLY EVIL, NAMELY IGNORANCE
Diogenes Laertius, Socrates, Sec. xiv.

A LITTLE LEARNING IS A DANGEROUS THING;
DRINK DEEP OR TASTE NOT OF THE PIERIAN SPRING.
Alexander Pope, Essay on Criticism, Pt. ii, 215

IGNORANCE IS THE CURSE OF GOD, KNOWLEDGE THE WING WHEREWITH WE FLY TO HEAVEN
Shakespeare, Henry IV, pt. ii, Act iv., Sc. 7

BEHOLDING THE BRIGHT COUNTENANCE OF TRUTH, IN THE QUIET
AND STILL AIR OF DELIGHTFUL STUDIES.
John Milton, Introduction to Church Government

KNOWLEDGE COMES, BUT WISDOM LINGERS - Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Locksley Hall, Stanza 72

WISDOM IS THE PRINCIPAL THING; THEREFORE GET WISDOM;
AND WITH ALL THY GETTING, GET UNDERSTANDING
Holy Bible, Proverbs 4:7

THE INQUIRY, KNOWLEDGE, AND BELIEF OF TRUTH IS THE SOVEREIGN GOOD OF HUMAN NATURE. 

    Bacon, Essays, "Of Truth"

A few quotes especially for my fellow English teachers:

THE CHIEF GLORY OF EVERY PEOPLE ARISES FROM ITS AUTHORS
Johnson, Preface, A Dictionary of the English Language

THE TRUE UNIVERSITY OF THESE DAYS IS A COLLECTION OF BOOKS
Thomas Carlyle, On Heroes and Hero-Worship, "The Hero as a Man of Letters."

DREAMS, BOOKS, ARE EACH A WORLD; BOOKS WE KNOW,
ARE A SUBSTANTIAL WORLD, BOTH PURE AND GOOD
William Wordsworth, Personal Talk, Stanza iii

BOOKS WILL SPEAK PLAIN WHEN COUNSELLORS BLANCH
Sir Francis Bacon, Essays "Of Counsel"

THERE IS NO WORK OF GENIUS WHICH HAS NOT BEEN THE DELIGHT OF MANKIND
Lowell, Among My Books

READING MAKETH A FULL MAN; CONFERENCE A READY MAN; AND WRITING, AN EXACT MAN
Sir Francis Bacon, Essays, "Of Studies"

Finally, from the Library’s principal founder.  A president who thought deeply about the value of education.  Who saw learning, like independence, as a means to control our lives.

EDUCATE AND INFORM … ENLIGHTEN THE PEOPLE GENERALLY, AND TYRANNY AND

OPPRESSION OF THE BODY AND MIND WILL VANISH LIKE EVIL SPIRITS AT THE DAWN OF DAY.  Thomas Jefferson

The second semester approaches.  May we return, renewed, with hope.