1 - 8 Mar 2009

Our quotation this week implies the question, ‘In what ways are we open to change?’:

"The mind is like an umbrella – it only works when it is open".

Sir James Jeans (1877-1946, physicist)

We can be open to change in terms of understanding the physical world, or how we view an artistic method. But what about being open to change about our beliefs or our values? Beliefs – religious or non-religious – and values go deep within us and make us who we are. On the positive side, changing our mind about what we believe or what we think is right / wrong can help us to become more mature, to grow in understanding what it is to be human and also to grow in faith. But is there a negative side?

22 Feb - 1 Mar 2009

We continue the 'Thought for the Week' quotations on the theme of 'understanding and wisdom':

"The wise man doesn't give the right answers,
he poses the right questions."

Claude Lévi-Strauss (born 1908, French anthropologist).

15 - 22 Feb 2009

This quotation is in a similar vein to last week’s - just in case you were confused by it:

“The great end of education is to discipline the mind;
to train it to the use of its own powers,
rather than fill it with the accumulation of others.”

Tyron Edwards (1809-1894, American theologian, best known for compiling a book of quotations).

All quotations simplify complex ideas, not least this one, so do respond with your own thoughts.

8 - 15 Feb 2009

The theme of our new series this semester is all things pertaining to understanding and wisdom. You may well know our first quotation:

“Education is not filling a bucket but lighting a fire.”

William Butler Yeats (1865-1939, Irish poet and dramatist)