Learn it by Heart

“The most important tribute any human being can pay to a poem or a piece of prose he or she really loves is to learn it by heart. Not by brain, by heart; the expression is vital.” – George Steiner
Questions:
What are the differences between learning by heart and learning by brain?
How do those differences (heart [...]

How Determined Are You?

Stephen Colbert recently interviewed Michael Phelps. Slipped in between the jokes, Colbert asked Phelps about his training for the Olympics. Phelps said that during a five-year span, he practiced every single day for four to six hours a day.
That bears repeating: 5 years…365 days a year…4-6 hours a day…
Talk about determination. Talk about someone [...]

Constructive Living: Listening

The following is a quotation from Constructive Living Reflections on St. Augustine’s Homilies by David K. Reynolds:
“Let’s talk about talking. Each of us speaks a private language, some of which is shared with others. Aim to hear the nuances of each other’s private speech. Do your best to translate your speech so that it [...]

Role-Playing Games: An Interpretation

Image via Wikipedia

Recently, I have been very interested in role-playing games and their potential benefit to education, acting, problem-solving and increasing imaginative strength. I am not talking about RPG (role-playing games) video games or internet “play-by-post” games, but am talking about pen and paper RPG’s, the kind where the players have to envision the unfolding [...]

There are no short cuts

Eric Hoffer, in his book “Reflections on the Human Condition,” writes, “People who cannot grow want to leap: they want short cuts to fame, fortune, and happiness (47).” For Hoffer, life lies in the ability to grow, that is, in the ability to learn and continue learning. The less attuned you are to the importance [...]