"We owe it to them to initiate an immense number of interests. 'Thou
hast set my feet in a large room,' should be the glad cry of every
intelligent soul. Life should be all
living, and not merely a
tedious passing of time; not all doing or all feeling or all
thinking--the strain would be too great--but, all living; that is to
say, we should be in touch wherever we go, whatever we hear, whatever we
see, with some manner of vital interest. We cannot
give the
children these interests; we prefer that they should never say they have
learned botany or conchology, geology, or astronomy. The question is
not, --how much does the youth
know? when he has finished his education--but how much does he
care?
and about how many orders of things does he care? In fact, how large is
the room in which he finds his feet set? and, therefore, how full is
the life he has before him?"
--Charlotte Mason
