The handwriting of famous authors - thread🧵

1. J. R. R. Tolkien's letter from Aragorn to Sam Gamgee, in which the King of Gondor informs the hobbit of his future visit and expresses his desire to "greet all his friends." 2. Fyodor Dostoevsky's manuscript draft of The Brothers Karamazov

Thread of religious wonders so surreal you won't believe they exist 🧵

1. Sumela Monastery, Turkey (386 AD) 2. Abuna Yemata Guh, Ethiopia

Rising 8,460 feet above the ground, Abuna Yemata Guh (first picture) is arguably the most inaccessible place of worship on earth.

It features stunning wall paintings dating back to the 5th century.

An unprecedented number of churches have been destroyed since 2020.

This is what the world’s most famous cities would look like without their most iconic church. We must protect these beacons of light 🧵

1. Florence Cathedral, Italy 2. St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican City

Four levers control at least 90% of K-12 education.

- School accreditation
- Teacher certification
- Control of public funds
- Standardized Testing

Whoever controls these controls the education that shapes the next generation.

All four have fallen into the wrong hands 🧵 School accreditation - Who gets to decide what is a “school”?

The current accrediting bodies use their power to push conformity to secular progressive ideology. If a school doesn’t fall in line they can lose accreditation.

Top 20 Zuby quotes 🧵

1. We have officially reached the stage where pretending to be a good person is more important than actually being a good person. 2. The world is going crazy because of your silence.

Bishop Conley’s goal in writing a lengthy letter on education was to provide a clear vision for his own diocese in Lincoln, Nebraska.

It did that.

It is also turning into a manifesto for Catholic education that is circulating like wildfire 🔥

21 quotes from the letter 🧵 1) "Education is the process of shaping us to fulfill the purpose of our lives; to know the happiness that comes from living in accord with our dignity and our nature."

On Jan 20th, 1961 John F. Kennedy gave what has come to be the most quoted inaugural address in American History.

But the content of his speech would make him a political outcast today (in both parties).

10 quotes from JFK’s inaugural that would make him unelectable in 2024 🧵 1) “The rights of man come not from the generosity of the state but from the hand of God.” - JFK

I often reference classical education without fully defining it.

To assist in understanding the difference between mainstream modern education and classical education, here are 5 key distinctions that serve as a starting point for comparison. 🧵 1) The goal of classical education is cultivating wonder and virtue in students (think of the 4 cardinal virtues and the 3 theological virtues). The goal of modern education is “College and Career Readiness”.

I am excited to head back to the most beautiful city in the world this week.

My top 5 must see places in Budapest 🧵 1) Saint Stephen's Basilica. It is named in honour of Stephen, the first King of Hungary (c. 975–1038), whose right hand is housed in the reliquary.

Top 20 Thomas Sowell quotes 🧵

1. One of the most dangerous trends of our times is making the truth socially unacceptable, or even illegal, with "hate speech" laws. 2. Have you ever studied what happens when the government does something compared to what happens when they don't do anything?

It was professional suicide and he knew it.

When Solzhenitsyn took the podium at Harvard in 1978 to offer the commencement address he was dearly loved by the media and America’s elite.

When he finished he knew he would be an outcast for life.

Here’s what he said. 🧵 1) Socialism of any type and shade leads to a total destruction of the human spirit and to a leveling of mankind into death.

Some of the most viral posts on X come from accounts that celebrate the beauty of what the old world built.

Their content gets so much engagement because it highlights a simple truth: the modern world is starved for beauty.

A thread of some of the most viral posts 🧵

https://x.com/Culture_Crit/status/1814299829947806004

Before Canada went insane they built some of the most beautiful churches on earth. 🧵 Notre Dame Basilica is located in the historic district of Old Montreal.

It shouldn't be controversial to say that Thomas Jefferson was amazing.

Jefferson is the single most influential individual in U.S. history and our greatest genius.

Here's why: 🧵 Jefferson was a statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, scientist, and philosopher who emerged from Virginia’s planter class to become a key leader of the American Revolution.

He served as Virginia’s governor, minister to France, Secretary of State, VP, and President (1801-09).

Top 10 Thomas Sowell quotes 🧵

1) Socialism in general has a record of failure so blatant that only an intellectual could ignore or evade it. 2) The next time some academics tell you how important diversity is, ask how many Republicans there are in their sociology department.

The top 10 books that have shaped who I am today (in the order I read them). 🧵 1) Mere Christianity - C.S. Lewis

I was 18 and a brand new Christian. I hadn’t read much of anything up to this point in my life, but shortly after giving my life to Christ at a Young Life camp my Area Director recommended it. It was the beginning of real education for me.

Thread on what famous architectural landmarks would look like if they were restored or completed using drones 🧵

1. Whitby Abbey, England Whitby Abbey, originally a 7th-century Christian monastery, later evolved into a Benedictine abbey.

During the Dissolution of the Monasteries (1536-1545) under Henry VIII, it was seized by the crown. Today, the ruins are a Grade I Listed site managed by English Heritage.

In 2016 a Notre Dame professor wrote an article exposing the truth about America’s “top students”.

The article contributed to a surge in homeschooling and classical education.

Summary of the article in 25 quotes 🧵

1) My students are know-nothings. 2) My students are know-nothings. They are exceedingly nice, pleasant, trustworthy, mostly honest... But their brains are largely empty, devoid of any substantial knowledge that might be the fruits of an education in an inheritance and a gift of a previous generation.

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's 1978 Harvard commencement address was the most controversial and commented-upon public speech of the 20th century.

He went to the center of power and prestige and told them they were a spiritual wasteland.

10 unforgettable quotes from his speech 🧵 1) A decline in courage may be the most striking feature which an outside observer notices in the West in our days.

“Civilizations die from suicide, not by murder.”
- Arnold Toynbee

While our country faces some of the same threats that brought down ancient civilizations, our system is far better equipped to withstand them.

Here’s why the American experiment can endure modern chaos 🧵 America is facing political turbulence reminiscent of the classical world: assassination attempts, legal maneuvers to undermine opponents, the overthrow of leaders, and talk of civil war.

However, the modern response is vastly different from that of the past.

Design competition! 🥇

We will pay $500 for the best graphic image of the reading list below.

This is from Gutenberg College where there are no majors. They simply read the best of what has been thought and said. This thread covers every book students read.🧵 •The Epic of Gilgamesh
•Enuma Elish
•Genesis
•Exodus
•Deuteronomy
•Homer, Iliad and Odyssey
•Hesiod, Works and Days