Message for September 2011

What Education Should Be

"The foundation of education should be laid in the knowledge and love of God. Education, without MORAL TRAINING, is like a sword in the hands of a madman. "Knowledge is Power" for good and for evil. See to it then, that your children are trained in the principles of religion, honesty, integrity and virtue, in obedience, self-government, benevolence and kindness. They need line upon line, precept upon precept, and constant watchfulness over faults and habits. No schools however well conducted, no colleges however high in literary advantages, without this care and effort to establish correct principles, and form the character to virtue, can be safe for our children. They should be taught moreover, that they must be, under the blessings of God, manufacturers of their own fortunes. Many parents toil and labor, and deny themselves the comforts of life to hoard up wealth for their children. But fit them to take care of themselves, and it will be of more value than the wealth of the Indies. The earlier you teach them to depend upon their own resources the better. See that their morals are pure, the mind cultivated, and the whole nature subservient to the laws of God, and it will be of greater value than the riches of the world. Train them up to habits of industry, economy and virtue, and it will be the best estate they can have, of which no misfortune can deprive them."

A direct quote by L.G. Abell from the book "A Mother's Book of Traditional Household Skills" (2001) first edition published in 1852 as "The Skillful Housewife's Books".

"An amoral education is dangerous." -Poor Anne