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Author Eric MacKnightPosted on March 24, 2006Categories School Gardening

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Most of us are doing the best we can, but our best is often not very good, or not good enough, so we need to be kind and forgiving of each other, and of ourselves.

Nero may have fiddled while Rome burned. We’re fiddling while the entire planet burns.

Lasting values

The arts, ideas, natural beauty, and good conversation provide lasting pleasure.

Pages

Independent Reading
Learning to Write
Making Music, 1964-67
Paul Graham
SSIS Garden Project
The Marking Key
Words to Teach By
- What is RSS?

Featured Posts

Humour Musings

Baseball Clichés

April 4, 2025

Culture & History Musings Politics & History

The Circle of Modern Political Ideologies

September 22, 2024

Independent Reading

Reluctant readers: how to help a child who does not enjoy reading

September 16, 2024

Books Culture & History

Louis Barthas: the old lady and her garden

July 8, 2024

Teaching Writing

Help for marking essays and giving feedback to students

October 8, 2023

Musings

The Story of the Taoist Farmer

February 17, 2023

Culture & History

一团和气 (yi tuan he qi)

August 5, 2022

Culture & History Musings Politics & History

The government is not concerned with your health, or mine

April 6, 2022

Musings

On sickness and health: the wisdom of the ages and the COVID-19 anti-vax upsurge

March 20, 2022

Culture & History Musings

Robinson Crusoe’s father on the advantages of being middle-class

November 21, 2021

For Students

The Vertigo Plan for diet and fitness

August 30, 2021

Poetry

Who indeed knows the secret of the earthly pilgrimage?

June 13, 2021

Culture & History Politics & History

Krishnamurti: separation is violence

April 17, 2021

Politics & History

Election disputes, voter fraud, violence, and my great-great-uncle, the Senator

March 15, 2021

Castles in the Air

The Five-Year Marriage: My Brilliant Idea

December 31, 2020

Politics & History

Nuclear power: safe and economical

November 15, 2020

Musings

The argument for nuclear power

June 12, 2020

For Students

Wise words from George Monbiot

June 12, 2020

Culture & History Politics & History

Why is learning to write well so slow, so difficult, and so frustrating?

April 27, 2020

Musings

John Adams: “Remember, democracy never lasts long”

November 6, 2019

Poetry

My Old Friend

September 7, 2019

Culture & History Politics & History

George Kennan: “the sowing of bitterness, suspicion, and intolerance”

July 26, 2018

Culture & History Politics & History

4 (now 5) Reasons the U.S. Is Doomed

June 19, 2018

For Students

St. John’s College, the Great Books school

March 27, 2018

Politics & History

Is it possible for a nation to eat junk food and watch TV for half a century without consequences?

February 8, 2017

Politics & History

Terrorism, Racism, and Healing the Body Politic

November 16, 2015

For Students

Research: what are ‘credible sources’?

September 12, 2014

For Students Teaching

Never Give Up: An Inspiring Story

August 12, 2014

Musings

The Intentional Fallacy: it doesn’t matter what the author intended

May 4, 2013

For Students Humour Teaching

Turn your school into Paris

October 23, 2011

Educational Blogs Teaching

Sending the Right Message About Literature

April 26, 2010

Teaching

Not an Option, Not a Frill: Literature at the Core of Learning

November 11, 2009

Goethe on Beethoven

He “may not be wrong to find the world detestable, but in doing so certainly does not make it more enjoyable either for himself or for others.”

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The world will be a better place if everyone, all the time, respects human rights and the rule of law—especially when our emotions pull us most strongly in the opposite direction.

About

I have been teaching secondary school English since 1980 in the United States, Morocco, Switzerland, Austria, Canada, the Netherlands, and China in public, private, and international schools. I am also the author of Good Habits, Good Students: A Complete Guide for Students Who Want to Succeed.

After living and teaching in Suzhou, China from 2004 - 2015, I spent three years in Salem, Oregon, where my teaching career began. Currently I am living in Victoria, BC, and working at Brookes Westshore School.

我是四海游龙.