"One can never consent to creep when one feels the impulse to soar."

--Helen Keller

Art credit: In the Blue Expanse by Arkady Rylov

"For one I care little for the government which presides at Washington, in comparison with the government which rules the millions of homes. No administration can seriously harm us if our home-life is pure, frugal and godly. No statesmanship or legislation can save us, if once our homes become the abode of ignorance...The home rules the nation. If the home is demoralized, it will ruin it."

--Theodore L. Cuyler

Art credit: Lunch in the Garden by Anna Ancher

"The best books will prove solace in solitude, joy amid sorrow, wealth in poverty, and gladness even in life's darkest gloom. Such a pure, refined, and cultivated taste will be a possession which the world cannot give nor take away."

--p. 126 A Mother's Influence, C. E. Sargent

Art credit: Reading by the Brook by Winslow Homer

"Nothing is small to the mind of an original observer."
--(From the story of Erasmus Darwin, grandfather of Charles)

Art credit: Der Vlinders by Allebe

In going through Arthur Mee's 1000 Heroes looking for stories for future volumes of My World Story Book, I found myself stopping to ponder this little thought from the story of King Edward of England:

"He was like the English people of that time in having no answer to give to the difficulties of the present. He had not the capacity of foresight to devise a policy of his own, and he knew it. He turned to what was within his power. If he could not direct the nation's destinies, if he could not help his people in their present distress, he might leave behind him a legacy of HOPE to support them in the dark days to come.

"This dreamer saw them coming and thought if he could not transform the national life nor perceive how it was to be remoulded, yet when men's hearts should fail them he would give them some HOPE, some consolation to which they might turn in their days of need."

I think that struck a responsive chord because those were the feelings in my own heart when Libraries of HOPE was created. If your families gain nothing else from what I offer, my greatest desire is that the books and stories will have planted HOPE in your hearts. Because as long as there is hope, we will keep moving forward. And if we keep moving forward, eventually spring will come because Spring ALWAYS follows winter.

Art credit: A Spring Day by Friedrich Kallmorgen

I loved this quote in my daughter's 100 Days of WEH blog this morning:

"If someone told you by digging long enough in a certain spot you would find a diamond of unmeasured wealth, do you think you would begrudge time or strength, or means spent to obtain that treasure? Then I will tell you that if you dig in the depths of your own heart you will find, with the aid of the Spirit of the Lord, the pearl of great price..."

Zina Young

Art credit: Parable of Hidden Treasure by Rembrandt

More Charlotte Mason wisdom:

"A system of education is an alluring fancy...System is so successful in achieving precise results, that it is no wonder there should be endless attempts to straiten the whole field of education to the limits of a system....

"Though system is highly useful as an instrument of education, a 'system of education' is mischievous , as producing only mechanical action instead of the vital growth and movement of a living being."

Art credit: The Examination by Albert Anker

From the writings of Charlotte Mason:

"In the words of a wise teacher of men, 'the woman receives from the Spirit of God Himself the intuitions into the child's character, the capacity of appreciating its strength and its weakness, the faculty of calling forth the one and sustaining the other, in which lies the mystery of education, apart from which all its rules and measures are utterly vain and ineffectual.'"

Art credit: Mother with Child by Leon Perrault

"Teaching kids to count is fine, but teaching them what counts is best."

--Bob Talbert

Art credit: Mental Calculation by Nikolay Bogdanov-Belsky

"Virtually every classic tale in literature or film has, as its driving force, some problem or conflict to overcome. Imagine how dull a book would be if the resolution came in chapter 1. We keep reading to the end because we want to know how things will work out—and we’re confident that they will somehow.

"Quite often, the resolution comes in the form of change or growth in the main character. He or she has learned something valuable, and it wouldn’t have happened without the adversity that propelled the adventure.
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"Learning is what makes life’s adventure worthwhile. And while learning is sometimes expensive, ignorance costs even more. So what should we be learning? We have access to almost limitless information, but some things simply matter more than others. Some things are interesting; others are deeply meaningful. Some are thought-provoking; others are life-changing. What kind of learning will bring us to the “happily ever after” at the end of our adventure?"

--Lloyd Newell

Art credit: A Summer Day by Charles Baugniet