How we cite our quotes: (Chapter, Paragraph)
Quote #7
The merchant having withdrawn, the other remained seated alone for a time, with the air of one who, after having conversed with some excellent man, carefully ponders what fell from him, however intellectually inferior it may be, that none of the profit may be lost; happy if from any honest word he has heard he can derive some hint, which, besides confirming him in the theory of virtue, may, likewise, serve for a finger-post to virtuous action. (15, 1)
We're a little irritated that Tassel thinks he's mentally superior to the country man, but there's good advice here to be had, nevertheless: don't waste any life experience, and learn from everybody. This doesn't mean everyone you meet is good and kind and smart and talented. It does mean you can pick up a few cool tricks from anywhere and anyone. Bitter twist here, though? What Tassel "learns" is that there's a rich, old, sick man Tassel is setting out to rob.
Quote #8
In the Polite Spirit Of the Tusculan Disputations (22, title)
We've got another title here, and it's a great little nod to education within the classical tradition. Disputations were organized school debates during which students compiled evidence to prove their case. This chapter is about the PIO man trying to convince Pitch to hire a farmhand. Pitch bemoans human nature, and the PIO man argues for the educability of moral character.
Quote #9
"Ah, you are a talking man—what I call a wordy man. You talk, talk."
"And with submission, sir, what is the greatest judge, bishop or prophet, but a talking man? He talks, talks. It is the peculiar vocation of a teacher to talk. What's wisdom itself but table-talk? The best wisdom in this world, and the last spoken by its teacher, did it not literally and truly come in the form of table-talk?" (22, 89-90)
Pitch accuses the PIO man of being a talker. For Pitch, if you're talking up a storm, you're up to no good—but the PIO man turns things around on him…with talk…about talk. He's all, Remember oral tradition? Remember great philosophers? Remember basic education? Remember preachers? Heck, even the Bible is a record of what people said others said. Words have a lot of power, and the PIO man focuses on one of the biggies when he points to talking as teaching and learning.