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John Cuddeback

Articles by John Cuddeback

The Land of Storybooks

At evening when the lamp is lit, Around the fire my parents sit; They sit at home and talk and sing, And do not play at anything. Now, with my…

If Sartre is Right

“If man…is indefinable, it is because at first he is nothing. Only afterward will he be something, and he will himself have made what he will be. Thus, there is…

Slaughtering Pigs Today

Today begins the annual pig slaughter at my home. It is always a momentous occasion. Of its many unforgettable moments I think my favorite is when the pig’s carcass has…

Gestures: A Meeting of Body and Soul

“Imitations practiced from youth become part of nature and settle into habits of gesture, voice, and thought.” Plato, Republic III Plato showed great concern about how people move and use…

Silence of Monks

“For it becomes the master to speak and to teach, but it beseems the disciple to be silent and to listen.” The Rule of St. Benedict Fall break. I am…

Discussing Virtue, Daily

“It is the greatest good for a man to discuss virtue every day and those other things about which you hear me conversing and testing myself and others…” Socrates, The…

Who’s Hiding from Whom

“The real nature of things is accustomed to hide itself.” Heraclitus Heraclitus seems to imply that reality strives to veil itself. Is there a latent cruelty in reality—that it recedes…

Texting: Why I Resolve to Avoid It

Recently I travelled to Louisville to attend the Front Porch Republic conference. The experience was memorable in several ways—not least of all in the outstanding presentations and remarkable fellowship. It…

Discipline and Silence

“And when it comes to action, put your trust in discipline and silence; in every kind of warfare they count a lot, and particularly in naval engagement.” Phormio, Athenian naval…

The Fall of Acorns

“When the oak-tree is felled, the whole forest echoes with it; but a hundred acorns are planted silently by some unnoticed breeze.” Thomas Carlyle That time of year is almost…

Last Chance to Plant

"Do remember that each kind of work has its season..." Hesiod, Works and Days A simple, mundane truth about the end of August. The mid-Atlantic growing season is moving toward…

Hearing the Shenandoah

“Oh Shenandoah, I long to hear you…” American Folk Song, traditional What is it about hearing a river? This past spring I stood next to the flooding Mississippi in St.…

Nothing Incomplete, Nothing in Vain

“Now nature makes nothing incomplete, and nothing in vain…” Aristotle, Politics Sometimes we might wonder about Aristotle. Was he observing the same world we are? One thing is clear: Aristotle…

Throwing Nothing Away

“Nature like a good householder throws away nothing of which anything useful can be made.” Aristotle, On the Generation of Animals It is delightful to think that nature already does…

Rising at Night

“…and when anything needs doing it ought not to be left undone, whether it be day or night. There are occasions when a householder should rise while it is still…

Care for a Wife’s Health

“Seeing, then, that such care is lavished on the body’s food, surely every care should be taken on behalf of our own children’s mother and nurse, in whom is implanted…

What Will Make Me Grateful?

“The greatest benefits will not bind the ungrateful.” Aesop’s Fables The farmer, finding a frozen snake, pitied him and placed him in his bosom to thaw. The revived snake, unmoved…

Learning from the Bees

“Passing their lives under exalted laws, Alone they recognize a fatherland And the sanctity of a home, and provident For coming winter set to work in summer And store their…

The Best Manure

“We must observe what parts of the land must be manured, how the manure is to be applied, and the best kind to use; for there are several varieties. Cassius…

Playing the Right Games

“But when children play the right games from the beginning and absorb lawfulness from music and poetry, it follows them in everything and fosters their growth…” Socrates, in Plato’s Republic,…

The Mother of All Arts

“Whoever it was who said that agriculture is the mother and nurse of all other arts was right, because when agriculture is faring well, all the other arts are strengthened…

A Happy Thought

The world is so full of a number of things, I’m sure we should all be as happy as kings. Robert Louis Stevenson, A Child’s Garden of Verses In my…

Trying to Be Like Them

“It is for you to try to be like them.” Pericles’ Funeral Oration I have to admit a problem that I’ve had with Memorial Day. I’ve often let my thoughts…

When Your Way of Life is Out of Date

“…your whole way of life is out of date when compared with theirs. And it is just as true in politics as it is in any art or craft: new…