“A great good will impart great good.  If then the intellect is so excellent a portion of us, and its cultivation so excellent, it is not only beautiful, perfect, admirable, and noble in itself, but in a true and high sense it must be useful to the possessor and to all around him… …diffusing good, or as a blessing, or a gift, or power, or a treasure, first to the owner, then through him to the world.  I say then, if a liberal education be good, it must necessarily be useful too.”  (John Henry Newman, the Idea of a University)

This quote definitely gives me food for thought and pause as I think about my decision whether or not to stay in college.  I feel inadequate even on expanding on this eloquent snippet from Newman.  What is beautiful about what he is saying here is that if one pursues the liberal arts then the pay off is there, the use is there.  It may not be as evident or tangible as other things, but nonetheless it persists and persists to make the world a better place.  It is hard to trust in that for me, but I’m able to, I think, because of people who I know who’ve actually embraced that sort of mindset.  And it is a thing of beauty, and I have to say that deep down in me somewhere I believe it does in some way, I believe in faith, make the world a better place.
Peace be with you today.