Status Updates From On Art and Life

Ooooof. Convicting. He had some WORDS for the modern economic systems we live under. And he wrote this 200 years ago.

His discussion of the needle and the plough is interesting as I am considering handicrafts in a Charlotte Mason education and what it might take for my ADHD-ish brain to commit to one.

He really hates iron fences.

It's about art, but it isn't really about art. Definitely has some good little nuggets of wisdom and food for thought in here about theology, philosophy, art, and the soul of a people.

Some interesting thoughts on art.

Excellent discussion of the pursuit of perfection in the arts and work and what it does to the human soul. This book wasn't written about our time or our economy but boy does it have some strong words for us and specialization and the division of labor.

This little treatise on Gothic architecture is more profound than it has any right to be. Ugh. I need a new commonplace notebook for this.

“Most of us do not need fine scenery; the mountain peak is not intended to be seen by all men … But trees and fields and flowers were made for all, and are necessary for all. God has connected the labour which is essential to the bodily sustenance with the pleasures which are healthiest for the heart; and while he made the ground stubborn, he made its herbage fragrant, and its blossoms fair.”

Small but mighty book.