Kirktober 2026

“These letters further confirm that Bloom, a guardian of our Western literary heritage, was one of the most important minds of the past half century.”

“The humanities are necessary, Keilen argues, for us to function as a society. Education should come through reading the great works of literature, and, in the English language, Shakespeare is among the greatest teachers.”

“The language and style are vivid and elegant all throughout, and the stories have a timeless quality that works on multiple levels.”

“…Belloc remains a draught of fresh air and a happy antidote to the official version of English national history, with its idealized tale of public-spirited reforms and liberal advances broadening down to the happy present.”

“Academic and popular history of the period has long noted the early intimidation and violence that accompanied the rise of an American political consciousness and revolutionary movement.”

“…faith and pedagogy should be in harmony. Smith’s guide is not a theory of faith and teaching or how to sprinkle faith within teaching. ‘It offers repeated practice at noticing and thinking through ways in which faith and the process of teaching might connect in everyday practice,’ in the mundane moments of elementary, secondary, or higher education classrooms.”

“In the end, Nikias’s story illustrates a recurring truth about bureaucracies: reformers often find themselves defeated not by external enemies but by the accumulated habits, incentives, and procedures of the organizations they serve.”

“In the spirit of Kirk, the conservative reformer must remember the imperfectability of human nature, a moral truth that the modern academy has forgotten.”