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Virtues in the Soul
The most important lesson
“You may dazzle the mind with thousand brilliant discoveries of natural science; you may open new worlds of knowledge which were never dreamed of before; yet, if you have not developed in the soul of the pupil strong habits of virtue which will sustain her in the struggle of life, you have not educated her, but only put in her hand a powerful instrument of self-destruction.” (Saint Rose Philippine Duchesne)
Introduction
What are instruments of self-destruction?
The first things that pop into the mind are the obvious instruments of self-harm (i.e. knife, gun, poison). Next up are the addictive substances like alcohol, drugs, cigarettes and behavioural addictions like gambling.
Let us now divert our attentions to the quote above — “Thousand brilliant discoveries of natural science… worlds of knowledge never dreamed of before.”
How can these possible fall into the category of instruments of self-destruction?
Are they not the exact things that we give our children when we read them bedtime stories, send them to school and show them documentaries?
Distractions from God
There is certainly a place for the appreciation of natural science and knowledge…
