Page:The Great Didactic of John Amos Comenius (1896).pdf/377



1. far we have discussed the problem of teaching and learning the sciences and the arts with greater readiness. We should, however, bear in mind the remark of Seneca (Epist. 89): “We ought not to learn these things, but rather to have learned them.” They are, indeed, nothing but a preparation for more important matters, and as he says, “our beginnings, and not our completed works.” What then is our true work? It is that study of wisdom which elevates us and makes us steadfast and noble-minded—the study to which we have given the name of morality and of piety, and by means of which we are exalted above all other creatures, and draw nigh to God Himself.

2. We must therefore see how this art of instilling true virtue and piety may be elaborated on definite system, and introduced into schools, that we may with justice be able to call them the “forging-places of humanity.”

3. The art of shaping the morals is based upon the following sixteen fundamental rules:

(i) All the virtues, without exception, should be implanted in the young.

For in morality nothing can be omitted without leaving a gap.

4. (ii) Those virtues which are called cardinal should be first instilled; these are prudence, temperance, fortitude, and justice.