Gratitude And Warmth

One looks back with appreciation to the brilliant teachers, but with gratitude to those who touched our human feelings.  The curriculum is so much necessary raw material, but warmth is the vital element for the growing plant and for the soul of the child.
—  Carl Jung
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On This Day In:
2017	Never Forget
2016	It’s All Greek To Me (Well, Latin Actually)
2015	Truism
2014	Thank You
2013	Really
2012	Ordinary Five Minutes Longer
2011	The Wealth Of Sons (And Daughters)

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To Reach The Next Threshold

Here is what I have learned about race:  You can’t go over it.  You can’t go under it.  You can’t go around it.  You have to go through it.
When we testify in court, we swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.  This is important, because anything but the whole truth and nothing but the truth will lead us astray.  Yet that is the story of American history that most of us know, particularly as it relates to race.  To move forward, we must commit to tell the whole truth about our past.  To move forward, we must find that new space on race here; a zone of belief that holds promise for a nation committed to justice for all of our people, making right what we have failed to do and insisting that we will do what it takes to reach the next threshold for humankind.
—  Mitch Landrieu
Mayor of New Orleans, LA
From his editorial: “Repairing the story of race in the South“
Appearing in Time Magazine, dtd: 2 April 2018
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On This Day In:
2017	Streaking Tales
2016	Singular Reality
2015	He Says It’s Hard To Get There From Here
2014	Question From A Founding Father
2013	Make Heroes
2012	See And Hold
2011	Am Not, Are So

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A Lone, Brave Voice…

This University, like any great university, encourages, and indeed demands, independence of mind.  We expect you to develop the ability to articulate your views clearly and cogently, to contend with and learn from competing viewpoints, and to modify your opinions in light of new knowledge and understanding.  Your Princeton education will culminate in a senior thesis that must both present original research and also contend respectfully with counter-arguments to your position.
This emphasis on independent thinking is at the heart of liberal arts education.  It is a profoundly valuable form of education, and it can be exhilarating.  It can also at times be uncomfortable or upsetting because it requires careful and respectful engagement with views very different from your own.  I have already emphasized that we value pluralism at Princeton; we value it partly because of the vigorous disagreements that it generates.  You will meet people here who think differently than you do about politics, history, justice, race, religion, and a host of other sensitive topics.  To take full advantage of a Princeton education, you must learn and benefit from these disagreements, and to do that you must cultivate and practice the art of constructive disagreement.
Doing so is by no means easy.  Some people mistakenly think the art of disagreement is mainly about winning debates or being able to say, “I was right.”  It is much harder than that.  The art of disagreement is not only about confrontation, but also about learning.  It requires that we defend our views, as we do in debate, and, at the same time, consider whether our views might be mistaken.
It requires, too, that we cultivate the human relationships and trust that allow us to bridge differences and learn from one another.  That is one reason why I disagree with people who consider inclusivity and free speech to be competing commitments.  I believe exactly the opposite, namely, that if we are to have meaningful conversations about difficult topics on university campuses and in this country, we must care passionately both about the inclusivity that enables people to trust and respect one another and about the freedom of speech that encourages the expression of competing ideas.
Building trust depends upon empathy, patience, and sometimes forbearance.  The art of disagreement requires a practiced sense of when to listen, calm the waters, remain silent, or simply walk away.  Even in a University that thrives on disagreement, you need not rise to every provocation.  As you speak with classmates and others, you may sometimes choose to focus on developing relationships, deferring vigorous debate for another day and a more promising moment.
But you also need to find times to speak up, because otherwise you will never have the uncomfortable conversations that really matter.  You will never have a chance to test and develop your own views or to inform the views of your peers.
Speaking up is not always easy.  As a student on this campus and, indeed, throughout your life — at work, in social settings, and in civic organizations — you will encounter moments when saying what you believe requires you to say something uncomfortable or unpopular.  Learning the art of disagreement can help you to choose the moments when it makes sense to speak, and to do so in ways that are effective, constructive, and respectful of the other voices around you.  But no matter how good you become at the art of disagreement, you will also need the personal courage to say what you believe — even if it is unpopular.
“Popular” and “populism” share a common Latin root: “popularis”—meaning “of the people.”  We are back, in a way, to the question with which we began, about what it means to exercise leadership in circumstances of diversity and disagreement.  Some people think leadership depends upon popularity — that it emanates from the approval and praise of a cheering crowd.  This University is dedicated to a different view.  We are committed to leadership through the rigorous and unstinting pursuit of truth.  We believe that sometimes the greatest leadership and the most important insights come not from someone popular, famous, or acclaimed, but from a lone, brave voice insisting on a fundamental principle.
—   Christopher L. Eisgruber
Excerpt from his speech: “Pluralism and the Art of Disagreement“
Given at the Opening Exercises on September 10 to the Princeton Class of 2021
Source: http://paw.princeton.edu/article/pluralism-and-art-disagreement
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On This Day In:
2016	Job Security
2015	For I Have Always Lived Violently
2014	We Stand !! (I Stand With George)
	Additional Requirements
2013	In The Present Day
2012	Feeling It
2011	Stretching Science

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The Promise At Risk

Part of what is at risk is the promise first made on this continent…  This promise means that all children by virtue of their own efforts, competently guided, can hope to attain the mature and informed judgment needed to secure gainful employment and manage their own lives thereby serving not only their own interests but also the progress of society itself.
—  “A Nation At Risk“
The National Commission on Excellence in Education, April 1983
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On This Day In:
2016	Or As Will Come In Time
2015	It Is Another Beautiful Day At The Red Pony Bar And Continual Soiree…
2014	Days And Years
2013	Currency And Transport
2012	Something Which Did Not Exist Before
2011	True Magic

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Got Education?

An education isn’t how much you have committed to memory, or even how much you know.  It’s being able to differentiate between what you do know and what you don’t.  It’s knowing where to go to find out what you need to know, and it’s knowing how to use the information once you get it.
—  William Feather
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On This Day In:
2016	Necessary Company
2015	Reality Vs Imagination
2014	Penalty Period
2013	Theft
2012	Cranky Old Man
2011	A Man’s Got To Know His Limitations

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Approval First

I believe that every human being with a physically normal brain can learn a great deal and can be surprisingly intellectual.  I believe that what we badly need is social approval of learning and social rewards for learning.
—  Isaac Asimov
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On This Day In:
2016	In Search Of Words
	Day 2 – Blending
2015	At What Price?
2014	Intricate And Subtle Order
2013	Attention To Detail
2012	Aequanimitas!
2011	Consider This

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Developing Translations

Let us think of education as the means of developing our greatest abilities, because in each of us there is a private hope and dream which, fulfilled, can be translated into benefit for everyone and greater strength for our nation.
—  John F. Kennedy
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On This Day In:
2016	Think Like A Hero
2015	Reductionism
2014	Gravitation, n.
2013	Ups And Downs
2012	Nerd Heard – And Good-Bye
	Your Continuum
2011	Career Tips (Part 2)

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