Sometimes writing is like a cross-country road trip. You're heading on one road in a certain direction and then some interesting, unexpected sight lures you on a detour. The detour proves to be really good.
Recently, while doing some research, one source led me to another, and eventually I wandered over to Gilbert Highet's The Art of Teaching. This former classicist at Columbia has a number of glowing things to say about Jesuit education. Here is one:
"The best proof of the educational genius of the Jesuits is that many of their best pupils were not Jesuits. The best proof of Plato's genius as a teacher is that Aristotle worked with him for twenty years, and then founded a mighty school of his own, based partly on his criticism and refutations of Platonic doctrine. The aim of good teaching is summed up in Aristotle's own remark about these differences: "Though both truth and Plato are dear to me, it is right to prefer truth."
