The immature conscience is not its own master. It simply parrots the decisions of others. It does not … - Jon Katz

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The ideal college is Mark Hopkins on one end of a log and a student on the other.

Jon Katz

The immature conscience is not its own master. It simply parrots the decisions of others. It does not make judgments of its own; it merely conforms to the judgments of others. That is not real freedom, and it makes true love impossible, for if we are to love truly and freely, we must be able to give something that is truly our own to another. If our heart does not belong to us, asks Merton, how can we give it to another?

Giving, Heart, Immature, Merely, Real, Simply

Same Author Quotes

It is difficult to see ourselves as we are. Sometimes we are fortunate enough to have good friends, lovers or others who will do us the good service of telling us the truth about ourselves. When we don't, we can so easily delude ourselves, lose a sense of truth about ourselves, and our conscience loses power and purpose. Mostly, we tell ourselves what we would like to hear. We lose our way.

Good Friend, Purpose, Way, Fortunate, Conscience

Animals have come to mean so much in our lives. We live in a fragmented and disconnected culture. Politics are ugly, religion is struggling, technology is stressful, and the economy is unfortunate. What's one thing that we have in our lives that we can depend on? A dog or a cat loving us unconditionally , every day, very faithfully.

Dog, Struggle, Mean, Disconnected, Live, Culture

I think if I've learned anything about friendship, it's to hang in, stay connected, fight for them, and let them fight for you. Don't walk away, don't be distracted, don't be too busy or tired, don't take them for granted. Friends are part of the glue that holds life and faith together. Powerful stuff.

Busy, Fight, Friendship, Glue, Love, True Friend

Dogs are voiceless. . . a critical part of having dogs is emotional responsibility: learning how to understand them and, when necessary, to speak and act on their behalf.

Dog, Responsibility, Emotional, Voiceless

Dogs are born knowing exactly what they want to do: eat, scratch, roll in disgusting stuff, sniff and squabble with other dogs, roam, sleep, have sex. Little of this is what we want them to do, of course. We ask them to sit, stay, smell peasant, practice abstinence, and be accommodating.

Abstinence, Dog, Scratch, Sex, Sleep, Stuff