Literature

When every aspect of life is assumed under the label of political action it becomes very hard for people to simply live their lives.

The Associated Press is spouting a lot of easily disproved talking points regarding the Democratic Party's impeachment proceedings against Trump.

Drag Queen Story Hour started on the West Coast and has spread at an alarming rate to schools and libraries across the United States.

If J.R.R. Tolkien was a Titan, Christopher was Atlas, with the weight of a cosmology on his back.

Millions of children today are raised, by default, to be slaves to group-think, addicted to endorphins released from a digital device, burdened with neural pathways so obliterated that nary a logical thought might pass from brain to lips…

Stephen King is the latest author to fall victim to a woke lynch mob. His crime? Stating that art should stand on its own merits.

In the midst of the noise of the 2020 elections, we need to stay clear-headed in continuing our pursuit of the American dream.

If politicians continually lie to gain power and stay in control is it not wise to minimize their power?

This passage seems to be overlooked when creating "Little Women" for the feminist mind.

One way to get people to stop reading books is to fail to teach them to read proficiently.

There are a lot of books out there. Why is it important for students to read older books when there is so much new material available?

There are many pieces of dystopian literature out there. Perhaps C.S. Lewis' lesser known work holds the truth of our present world.

Marriage is growing rare, even obsolete. It might be because of Romanticism. 

A classic children's novel questions the central tenant of transhumanism. 

Have you ever thought that high school graduates today… well, just don’t seem to know or understand as much as they once did?

Plato's Republic sheds profound light on the real problem.

Is humility worth defending?

Thackeray was a brilliant observer of human nature. His advice on how to raise children deserves to be taken into consideration.

While reading Toni Morrison’s Beloved was initially akin to pulling teeth, I found it to be an enriching read.

It is therefore the batman, not The Batman, who is the real hero.

Why have we rejected classic children’s books for the chaotic mess of modern children's books?

We must look back at Nagasaki and Hiroshima, and say, “Never again.”

Is there something about the quiet, relaxed beauty of the outdoors that does something to refresh not only our bodies, but our souls as well?

“Contraceptives are the greatest life-saving, poverty-ending, women-empowering innovation ever created.”

The Little Mermaid is a great story that teaches how to deal with unrequited love.

I’m not here to talk politics.

We’re not perfect, and neither were the Hobbits. Deep friendships take time, energy, and forgiveness.

Many embrace liberty and her handmaid, freedom, but disregard or push away the requisite responsibilities these two spirits demand.

Amazingly, watching a dog act out the plot of classic novels doesn’t veer too far into the absurd.

Tolstoy is best remembered for his voluminous masterpiece novels, Anna Karenina and War and Peace. Yet, in quantity, at least, Tolstoy’s philosophical works rivaled his fiction.

The Livraria Lello bookshop in Portugal now requires prospective patrons to purchase a voucher, or ticket, in order to gain entry.

In the decades since the time of its publication, the context of Orwell’s magnum opus has been lost.

What if words are all we have? What if they are one of the only shields left to absorb the hammer blows of our circumstances and failures?

We often overlook books from the past, preferring to look at something fresh and relevant. But might these works from the past give us fresh insight into present issues?

A virtues project from Narnia.

In having heroes “we make the best features of an historical person’s life” our own.

George Orwell and Charles Dickens offer some disturbing insight into how totalitarianism works.

This counters the idea that teenagers respond poorly to Shakespeare's work.

Given McGuffey’s five generations of successful use in the classroom, maybe modern educators have something to learn from this approach.

"We suppress genius because we haven’t yet figured out how to manage a population of educated men and women. The solution, I think, is simple and glorious."

The difference between the liberality of the liberal arts and the censorship imposed by political liberals is that advocates of the liberal arts invite the “heretics” to the great conversation whereas political liberals seek to silence them as...

Homer writes about honor, war, politics and love.  His portrait of the marriages of Hector and Andromache as well as  Odysseus and Penelope provides good advice for successful relationships. 

Are we getting dumber? Apparently so.

Television writer Andrew Davies has complained that "it is now 'compulsory' to have a leading lady capable of fending for herself."

Have we gone overboard on the entitlement-attitude toward chores?

T.S. Eliot on the meaning of the Christmas tree.  

If you are looking for a great Christmas ghost story, then the Victorian M.R. James should be on your reading list.  

As the Grinch discovers, a fully human life is possible only for those whose hearts are big and full.

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The end result of moral nihilism, as the Soviets demonstrated, is death and destruction on an industrial scale.

Jane Austen describes a world of highly regulated social behavior in which roles and intentions were more clearly communicated than they are tody.  Nevertheless, Jane Austen's world is filled with people struggling with the same weaknesses we stru

Put the propaganda aside. There is a right way to familiarize students with important social issues through real literature.

A sense of lack generates anxious feelings.

A finely designed essay ensures that the reader discovers the essay’s invention by traveling within its organization.

Ray Bradbury loved Halloween. 

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's Gulag Archipelago offers some poignant advice for dealing with the friction in today's society.

We’re used to hearing that American college students don’t like reading and avoid tough courses where they have to. But a new course at the University of Oklahoma (OU) proves that many students are eager for a demanding course.

Life will be filled with disappointment and grief.  You can prepare for setbacks by reading good literature. 

How many do you practice regularly?

Change is awesome, but transition is terrifying, and sometimes changing your state in life (even to the slightest degree) feels as dramatic and painful as trying to saw your arm off.

C.S. Lewis' demon Screwtape is a wily one... and those in families can be especially prone to falling into his trap.

We miss a lot of important truths by simply sticking to new books and avoiding the old.

Chesterton was generally sympathetic to the plight of the poor, but not in the case of easy divorce.

Forty years ago, 60 percent of high school kids read books daily. Not anymore.

Is it time we abandon our unrealistic expectations of marriage?

If literature produces this sting, it also produces the cure. 

In the modern world, C.S. Lewis argues in The Abolition of Man, we have trained the head and encouraged the heart, while neglecting the soul, the most important part of the person. As Lewis so scathingly puts it, we are producing men...

Unless we are willing to open ourselves up to criticism and freely weigh, discuss, and consider the ideologies behind opposing viewpoints, will we not continue to relegate ourselves to a society where contention reigns supreme? 

The Foundation series—which Apple reportedly is adapting into a television series—is a masterpiece of science-

When acting on our desires in the marketplace means signing over our data to corporate entities, the erosion of choice is revealed to be the consequence of choice – or at least, the consequence of celebrating choice.

The art of happiness requires the gift of beautifying daily life with the gracious touches that decorate rooms, select elegant clothing, bring cheer into others’ lives, create hospitable social occasions, and cultivate the manners that create...

The liberal rage against the border wall has much to do with the nature of boundaries. Walls, borders, and fences are manifestations of restraint. Fallen humanity naturally resists the restraints of order that keep the unbridled passions under...

We spend most of our lives not truly living at all but shoring up goods for some time in the future when we can enjoy them—which never comes since we have incapacitated ourselves from enjoying the present.

The decision to rename the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award didn’t sit well with former Stark Trek actor William Shatner. And now he's being called a racist. 

For the unlucky few who win the internet lottery, misdeeds become fodder for public judgement. Did the severity of the crime match the severity of the punishment? 

Of the hours Americans devote to free time, one area in particular is rather shortchanged.

If the PC craziness can topple Laura Ingalls Wilder, then it can topple just about anything.

In her book Bourgeois Dignity: Why Economics Can’t Explain the Modern World,

Lionel Shriver was sacked by Penguin Random House for penning an op-ed critical of the company's new diversity policy.

Don't forget the sun screen.

In his 1989 book Oracle at the Supermarket, psychologist Steven Starker explained how the self-help industry had become a sort of spiritual guide for individuals seeking answers.

In his 'Meditations,' Stoic philosopher Marcus Aurelius observed that a key to growth is training ourselves to do the things we don't wish to do.

Do women and young girls need to realize that being a wife and a mother is not a life of drudgery and oblivion?

Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius believed that battling reality was futile.

If you want to give economics a shot, you could do much worse than these five classic works.

Given their ridiculous selections, one wonders if you can really trust GQ about anything. 

It's not as difficult as many would believe.

If someone asks you to name the all-time bestselling book, you’d most likely answer “The Bible.”

He had a lot of them. 

The man who gave us Narnia also mounted firm opposition to the progressive-leftist ideals that swept swiftly across the world stage in his time.

"I do not deny that women have been wronged and even tortured; but I doubt if they were ever tortured so much as they are tortured now by the absurd modern attempt to make them domestic empresses and competitive clerks at the same time."

Simply instilling basic literacy in students is not enough.

Has culture bought into a lie about truly romantic love?

One of Minnesota’s largest school districts became the latest to pull two literary classics from its curriculum—'To Kill a Mockingbird' and 'The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'—citing student discomfort with the works.

Instead of teaching woke literature that’s social justice compatible, the college is teaching Plato.

In our relativistic society, most people today would say "no". 

Actress Blanca Blanco is taking heat for wearing a red dress to the Golden Globes on Sunday, instead of the color selected to show solidarity with the #MeToo movement.

As one of America's earliest diplomats, Franklin had firsthand experience in gaining and maintaining valuable friendships.

Are we denying students an important key toward future success?

One simple reason.

Charles Dickens’ story reminds us that our celebrations of Christ’s birth ought to stretch into all that we do.

Stephen King on the craft and business of writing. 

Unless schools begin grounding students in timeless knowledge, will we increasingly see passion backed by a lack of reason and a decline of rational discourse?

Author Catherine Nixey offers a history worth reading the 'The Darkening Age: The Christian Destruction of the Classical World.'

Euphemisms build walls around political tribes and inhibit actual communication. 

J.R.R. Tolkien learned some things about human nature, sex and love during and following his love affair with wife Edith Bratt. Here are eight observations.

Facebook is betting that video will kill text within 5 years.

Like its cousin the public library, the bookstore once connoted the posture of reflective quiet that digesting a good book requires. No longer.

Friedrich Hayek was right to voice caution against using coercion to achieve a 'greater good'.

Harvard-educated author and self-described "lie spotter" Pamela Meyer says spotting lies is not that hard--if you know what signs to look for.  

It's a growing problem that the best-selling author is quite concerned about.

The phrase 'porn star' is a euphemism that serious media should consider abandoning.

Ta-Nehisi Coates has become one of the most prominent public intellectuals in America. But his famous 'case for reparations' contains conspicuous flaws.

What was of paramount importance for the biblical authors was one's moral standing before God, regardless of our problem-solving abilities.

The writings of C.S. Lewis display a belief in limited government and a distrust of government-enforced morality.

An article about an ER nurse defending her daughter after the child's bra strap was snapped by a male student is going viral. There's just one problem.

'The Odyssey' encourages us to choose our leaders and role models carefully.

The famous scholar Jacques Barzun thought there were good reasons for sticking with the generic masculine pronoun.

"Though I am sometimes reluctant to admit it, there really is something ‘timeless’ in the Tyndale/King James synthesis." - Christopher Hitchens

J.R.R. Tolkiens' book 'The Hobbit' today is rated as the sixth bestselling work of literature of all time.

Phelim McAleer’s play Ferguson will open at Urban Stages theater for a three-week run on Oct. 19.

Cornell University gerontologist Karl Pillemer conducted a massive study involving 700-plus individuals wedded for some 40,000 years.

Jane Austen's Emma provides insight.

The death of the great American poet John Ashbery raises an important: Why are there are no “great” living American poets today?

A therapist offers 16 signs of narcissistic abuse.

Lewis explains the end goal of an English course... one that appears to be rather foreign to American high schools.

Author Paul Kengor has written an account of the relationship between Pope John Paul II and President Ronald Reagan that is compelling and unabashedly faith-filled.

Mentally weak people tend to do these three things, according to psychotherapist Amy Morin.

It was once normal for kids to raise all types of exotic pets on their own. What changed?

Today the farce being played out in the United States is plain for all who care to witness it.

A Thomas Middleton play in 1613 is the earliest printed example of a European author referring to fellow Europeans as ‘white people’.

The novelist Walker Percy believed violent storms offered respite from the curse of modern man: meaninglessness.

News headlines and TV images in our present time seem to confirm George Orwell as some kind of uncanny prophet of human behavior.

When we think of the destruction of books, we tend to think of Nazis and ISIS. It’s a vulgar, unenlightened act.

Claims that Hurricane Harvey will be a 'net benefit' prove that old fallacies die hard. 

If you find yourself unsatisfied with what the current culture celebrates, you may want to turn to the ancient wisdom of Emperor Marcus Aurelius.

O’Connor’s stories retain timeless importance.

One consequence of this subjection of truth to selfishness is the rupture between modern education and traditional virtue.

“Laws and principles are not for the times when there is no temptation…”

Is pressure to conform on college campuses getting a little out of hand?

Books can heal the spirit and soothe the soul like nothing else can.

C.S. Lewis tackled the topic of social justice in his book 'The Screwtape Letters.' 

Trade has always existed, and rich merchants have always been a part of the economic and political picture, but merchants have not always been the rulers, as they are today…

A certain set of Catholics since Vatican II has rejected this embrace of religious freedom.

Our Anti-Federalist philosophical fathers fought to forestall the inevitable. For that we must salute them.

Plutarch recounts many such similar instances in ancient history, and identifies a trend that still runs through all forms of flattery. 

Following the advice in this book will make you a better person and therefore help you realize your own value.

Talk about being ahead of their times… 

Marxist doctrine discourages individual creativity in favor of state control.

If students were allowed to spend more time in school reading for pleasure, would interest and ability in reading increase?

Many educated people – though perhaps not enough – know that it was medieval monks who preserved classical culture.

15 facts about books, literacy, and publishing

Staff for the London Underground have been instructed to drop the phrase 'ladies and gentlemen.'

As the past teaches us, a greater quantity of books doesn't necessarily guarantee intellectual creativity. 

Bradbury wrote: “There is more than one way to burn a book. And the world is full of people running about with lit matches.”

These 10 seemingly insignificant events had a profound impact on history. 

A wonderful illustration of the dangers of moral education can be found in Aldous Huxley’s brilliant novel 'Brave New World.'

Orwell himself was under government surveillance while writing his novel. 

11 interesting facts about the famed children’s author.   

"Unfortunately this loss of historical interest has made the present difficult to address because the context of the past is imperative if we are to salvage the future."

Think invisible men, time travel, flying machines and journeys to other planets are the product of the European or ‘Western’ imagination? Think again.

"The real victim of Trump’s presidency may turn out to be a generation of adults whose liberal arts educations were hijacked by political debate."

The most remarkable aspect of Tolkien’s vision is his ability to make the good desirable. Rather than portraying an exceptionally good character, he instead portrays rather...

He gets all the best lines. He is at all the best parties. And when he is on stage the whole play lights up with excitement and uproar.

Libraries have a special opportunity in summer to undo some of the damage of forced schooling and help children to reconnect with their innate learning instincts.

Do you recognize these quotes?

Though we may have a historical record of their existence, such a record only serves as a sad reminder of what we are missing.

Well-educated and well-traveled, it comes as no surprise that his prose rose to such fame. However, other aspects of his life are

Lawrence Reed identifies three of these virtues—courage, character, and conviction—and traces these traits through the lives and tremendous accomplishments of...

"We may reasonably hope for the virtual abolition of education when I’m as good as you has fully had its way. All incentives to learn and all penalties for not learning will vanish."

Initially published individually through The Guardian on a weekly basis in 1942, the volume is still a widely hailed work.

The World Bank’s chief economist took the term 'grammar Nazi' to a whole new level.

Charles Murray opens up about the chaos at Middlebury College and explains why America is so divided.

Here is a short list of Pulitzer-Prize winners I’d recommend readers not sneer at.

He has done a lot more than just write 'The Bell Curve.'

Here are six statistics that drive home just how much things have changed in America in a little more than a half-century:

In 'Shattered: Inside Hillary Clinton's Doomed Campaign,' Jonathan Allen and Amie Parnes offer readers a front-row seat to the Clinton trainwreck.

Hal Niedzviecki said literature becomes “exhaustingly white and middle class” when writers are discouraged from writing about other cultures.

Lust and its corrupting power are a central theme in Dostoyevsky's masterpiece 'The Brothers of Karamazov.'

And the award for most contrived, unrealistic, and preachy television drama goes to...

The late G. A. Cohen, an iconic political philosopher of the left who taught at Oxford, offered a thoughtful defense of socialism.

MTV abolished gender-specific categories for acting awards this year.

The Epic of Gilgamesh explores the nature and meaning of being human, and asks the questions that continue to be debated in the modern day.

'Communism for Kids' is coming to a bookstore near you.

Humility doesn’t mean thinking less of yourself. It means thinking of yourself less.

In November 1944, J.R.R. Tolkien described an ending to The Lord of the Rings that fans of his epic tale will find unfamiliar. 

His response serves as a reminder of the dangers we currently face.  

The reason that Tolkien’s greatest love story has been largely unknown is that it is little more than a footnote in 'The Lord of the Rings.'

A memorable vignette Pope Francis is fond of reciting is nowhere in the novel he claims it to be.

Frank Chodorov once described the income tax as the root of all evil. His target was not the tax itself, but the principle behind it.

Boys are not interested in getting in touch with themselves, and it is particularly off-putting when they are told that it is good for them.

A new study suggests that English courses are more influential in regard to future success than we once thought.

By the 1850s, fake news was so widespread in Germany that it had become its own genre – the “unechte Korrespondenz.”

Since when has it been weird to be polite?

Seventy-five truck drivers in Maine stand to win millions because of a missing Oxford comma in a legal clause. 

We don’t see much of this kind of instruction in today’s schools.

Shouldn’t we be more concerned with putting knowledgeable teachers in a classroom than whether or not schools measure up on the diversity threshold?

"All the World's a Stage" - Shakespeare can teach us a deeper reason for this interrupted interview going viral. 

Why do we think children prefer reading on screens versus paper?

Feminist icon Gloria Steinem wrote an op-ed about a “recent” triggering experience. She must have forgot she wrote about it a decade ago.

In 1950, the CIA established a headquarters in Paris and employed an army of operatives to recruit anti-Marxist intellectuals. 

The decline of knowledge has progressed even more than we realize...
 

On March 30, 1973, the 'Charlotte's Web' author wrote a beautiful note to a dispirited man who had last all faith in humanity.

According to Scruton, an education who truly respects a child will instill him with the values which have today become irrelevant.

Abraham Lincoln’s depression is well chronicled. His essay on suicide is less known.

Miss Manners' mistake is to confuse virtue with good manners.

Miller’s observation is plain and simple common sense.

Until kids start learning to read and think for themselves, they'll simply be swept up in the emotional and uncontrolled trends in society.

The author of an upcoming biography on Reagan suggests the 40th president was not as anti-statist as Republicans like to remember.

Rand sold more than 30 million books. Atlas Shrugged has been ranked behind only the Bible as an influence on readers’ lives.

Many solutions to the problem of evil – called ‘theodicies’ – have been proposed.

There are two major differences between the texts used today and those used in the schools of the past.
 

We all know how important reading is. It benefits relationships, builds language development, and even lengthens one’s life.

It comes directly from Chuck Palahniuk’s book, on which David Fincher’s 1997 film is based. 

Odysseus serves as an image of homo viator. Man on a journey. Travelling man. Man on a quest.

The paradox is this: All that is radical must be rooted. 

If we want our children to have a better education than we had will we have to train our children to educate themselves?

A speech for the ages.

Would Paine equate today's politicians with King George?

Pushing everyone toward college can only lead to disillusionment and lost opportunities for both the student and society at large.

School has nothing to do with freedom.

Answer these 12 questions to find out. 

Rudyard Kipling’s outspoken views on the foreign and domestic policies of his day guaranteed him some powerful enemies. 

Ivy League students removed a hallway portrait of William Shakespeare (too white) and replaced it with a photo of black lesbian activist.

If you’re looking to start a great book in 2017, this might be the place to start.

While working as a journalist during the Second World War, Orwell penned a review of Hitler’s Mein Kampf. 

Here is what the modern Christmas ditty looks like in heroic Anglo-Saxon metre.

Another attack on Christmas?

The reality is that almost everyone–single, infertile, overwhelmed by parenting, out of work–has their own set of heartaches and personal issues.

For many years now, my family has always tried to make some time over the holidays to sit down together and read old Christmas stories.

In 1820, he offered a critique on the problem of the modern Christmas. Does it sound familiar?

Originally he had intended to write a pamphlet called “An Appeal to the People of England, on Behalf of the Poor Man's Child.”

What was the real purpose of this psychological waterboarding?

The name Arthur first appears in the work of the 9th century Welsh historian Nennius, who lists twelve battles Arthur fought against invading Saxons.

Are we hypocritical for celebrating Christmas?

The holiday season is here, and with it comes the dance to make sure nobody is offended.

A professor at Boston University recently touched on origins of the term ‘politically correct.’ And it's revealing.

Does the ancient Greek philosopher offer a new way forward? 

John Taylor Gatto, a former Teacher of the Year, said historical records show that governments often fear ‘common people learning too much.’

Louisa May Alcott had some interesting views as a feminist.

If the trend of having fewer Americans read books continues, will we condemn ourselves to a future of stagnant and narrow thought?

In order to answer the question, we need to know the difference between what Shakespeare said and what Shakespeare wrote.

Can the West be saved? 

An Indian-American's true story shows how diversity-justified affirmative action excludes as many individuals based on their ancestry as it includes.

It comes in a nineteenth century comedy about three men (and a dog) who take a boating trip down the Thames River. 

He had a way with words. 

A ‘freeborn mind’ results in a richer and happier life, Lewis argued. But he saw that vanishing in modern society.

Here's why. 

Author S.E. Hinton recently came under fire for saying characters in 'The Outsiders' weren’t written gay. 

And the celebrated movie he hated.

The "broom was a symbol of female domesticity, yet the broom was also phallic, so riding on one was a symbol of female sexuality."

A professor argues that it broadens our understanding of the present.

"Textbooks are so badly written. They're boring!"

Can we be said to be using a phrase incorrectly if it has assumed a new meaning by being repeatedly used in a certain way?

"We all, therefore, need the books that will correct the characteristic mistakes of our own period. And that means the old books."

We have a world of knowledge at our fingertips, and not many are partaking.

John Laurens, a young colonial officer from South Carolina, shared many letters of affection with Hamilton.

Is raising the bar instead of lowering it the key to getting more students to succeed in school?

In ninth grade, a young Vladimir Putin walked to the local KGB office and asked how he could join.

After the first presidential debate of 2016, CNN decided to see what the kids thought of the spectacle. The answer?...

He had a checklist.

Has throwing out history, memorization, and difficult books crippled students by not giving them the tools upon which they can build their thoughts?

Jane Austen's Marianne Dashwood is a perfect example of today's society, whose every action seems to hinge on an emotional outbreak.  

And is it a blessing or a curse?

Should these comparisons cause us to reconsider the books today's high school students read?

A 9th grade teacher polled his class and found this answer.

Do you recognize the most important dates and events in Western Civilization?

Researchers from Johns Hopkins University find hard evidence that millions are not being challenged in school.

'Without you, without the affectionate hand you extended to the small poor child that I was...none of this would have happened.'

They offer a lot more wisdom than today's platitudes.

There is a reason students are turning their backs on the Humanities. 

A surge in advanced placement courses suggests many students want to be challenged.