May 1, 2007
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Laying Foundations
To A Son on His 16th Birthday
Every moment that you now lose; is so much character and advantage lost; as, on the other hand, every moment that you now employ usefully, is so much time wisely laid out, at most prodigious interest. These two years must lay the foundations of all the knowledge that you will ever have; you may build upon them afterwards as much as you please, but it will be too late to lay any new ones.~ Lord Chesterfield, letter to his son Philip Stanhope, May 1748
So….what do you think? What exactly are the foundations? Is it too late after age 18? I heartily agree with the first sentence, but I have my doubts about the second. I agree with the principle in general. Hmmm.
Comments (3)
Hmmm…..I actually think the foundations are laid from birth to age 6; and the rest is building on that *solid* rock. Now, dont get me wrong. I think there’s lots of building going on; setting them on the right track, molding….but you know that
Happy Birthday to your son!!
Dana in GA
PS Do you *allow* him to choose his dinner or cake? Pray tell.
PPS I had 1.5 Cups steamed broccoli last night. I really like it. I will send you a fun, veggie recipe, using a broccoli stir-fry.
I agree with Dana, although I may up the age a little to 8. Although it may also depend on the child. As I only have one at age 7 and the rest are 3 and under I have yet to test my theory.
Are we speaking ‘character’ or ‘academics’
I think, for academics, the “Learning to Learn” is an ongoing thing, from birth onwards, that does bear fruit starting at about 16 or so. When they can see a goal that they set for themselves, i.e. Son one with Latin at about 15, son two with improving his SATs at 17…That was when they took off academically, all that had come before was the ground work that had to be done before hand. Learning the new things was easier when they got to college, they already knew how to acquire new knowledge.
Lord Chesterfield encouraged his son to use the tools he had to start the ‘real’ studies of a young man, most likely at college. These would not have been *grammar* of Latin, Hebrew or Greek, but the actual Classics in the original languages. He probably would have been doing some higher math for the era. And History and Law…. He would be raised as a gentleman, but that was stared at birth. His station in life, even as a second or third son, would be just was decided for a Lord’s son as would a commoner’s son. Hopefully, this Phillip turned out well, a true Gentleman.