Commonplace Journals
A Plan for Collecting Great Quotes
A practice and habit of great minds is to collect the best of what other great minds have said and done so that they might make use of their wisdom. A commonplace journal is a great tool for gathering together the wisdom of history and literature into one place. If you are unfamiliar with the concept of commonplacing, here is what you need to know:
Get yourself a nice journal. Pick a great one that is beautiful, sturdy, and has plenty of room.
As you are reading (or in some cases listening) take note of the wisdom you read and hear and write it into your commonplace journal.
Use your commonplace journal as a source of inspiration for your own writing projects, for pieces to memorize for the good of your soul, for arranging them into public speaking opportunities, etc.
Write down the quote (verbatim), write down the source, and why you value the information (e.g. “This was beautifully said and I want to remember it”, or “This is a great definition of justice!”, etc).
That is pretty much the whole idea. Not too complicated.
Even so, I have found that some people desire (or need) more structure in order to make this a fruitful exercise for them. Such being the case I have developed a system for commonplacing which I have personally found very fruitful and I am now seeing it bear fruit in my classroom as well.
Having taught commonplacing to 7th-12th grade for a number of years now I have noted that some students, when lacking more specific guidelines, don’t know what to look for. This leaves some of them simply writing things like, “Bombur was immensely fat and heavy.” (The Hobbit, pg. 12) While I too find this funny (and actually I have no problem with this being an entry in their journal) these aren’t the kind of entries I would count for their grade. So I have started teaching students to look for one of three things for the purpose of commonplacing. 1. A Great Idea, 2. A Virtue, or 3. One of the corresponding Vices (in short they look for a G.I.V.V.). By finding examples of these in their books students are sure to locate commonplace worthy selections. It also allows them to organize their journal by category.
So what is a Great Idea, and what of the Virtues and Vices? Allow me to treat the topic of virtue first.
The Virtues and Vices
Aristotle describes virtue as an excellent quality gained by habitual practice. Virtues are considered excellent because they aid human happiness and flourishing. Aristotle argued in his Nicomachean Ethics that virtues are found in the mean between two corresponding vices. The following is a list of the seven great moral virtues. The first four are known as Cardinal Virtues and the latter three are known as the Theological Virtues. Taking our cue from Aristotle concerning virtue being a mean between two corresponding vices the following chart places the virtues in the middle with the corresponding vices of deficiency on the left and vices of excess on the right. In addition to the chart below, these will be added to the Great Idea list below with definitions for further clarity.
When reading a book (or listening to a lecture) you can look for examples of these and note them. When I see an example of one of these in something I am reading I usually write the word in the margin and underline it. This allows me to go back over the chapter when I am done reading and find it again easily and put it in my commonplace journal.
The Great Ideas
“Great Ideas” are “universal themes” found in Great Books. Great stories invariably interact meaningfully with many of these themes/ideas in the same work. The above virtues and vices can also be considered to be “Great Ideas” in stories. Below is a list of Great Ideas with a short description to help you recognize them when you encounter them in the books you read. This list is by no means exhaustive and the given description may not fully encompass all possible examples of a particular Idea. What other Great Ideas might you add to your journal?
Adoption: coming to belong to, or be accepted by, a family or community that one did not originally belong to.
Appearance vs. Reality: things are not always what they seem. Sometimes things are vastly different than the face value impression implied.
Arrogance: a vice which is characterized by the wrongful belief, false confidence, or assumption, that one knows the truth (the way things really are) or what is the right thing to do in the present moment.
Battle of Wits: usually in the form of a duel between two opponents either for the sake of a prize/treasure or in defense of one’s honor and reputation.
Beauty: An example of something which produces an experience of aesthetic pleasure through hearing or sight.
Coming of Age: a moment in life where expectations, responsibilities, and/or privileges suddenly and permanently take on new dimensions and/or a person steps into a new role and takes on new challenges.
Community: a larger group which may include friends, family, and sometimes even enemies but which, nonetheless, is a place or group to which a person belongs and it is meaningful in shaping that person’s character and values (e.g. a New Yorker, a gang member, a Christian Church or denomination, etc.).
Compassion: having sympathy towards people who are suffering or in great difficulty, leading to a desire to provide relief. This is most vibrantly seen when it is shown towards those who are considered enemies.
Cowardice: a vice which is characterized by the failure to exemplify fortitude (courage) when prudence and justice demand it.
Creation: the making of something new, the imposition of a personal will on non-personal matter to form it into something different. A reflection of the Creator in our sub-creating.
Deprivation: a vice which is characterized by withholding from oneself certain goods or pleasures when it would be more fitting and right to partake in them.
Despair: a vice which is characterized by giving into doom and gloom, often resulting in the abandoning of one’s duty, when there is still reason to have hope or to carry on for the good of others.
Despotism: a vice which is characterized by exercising extreme control over others and/or by doling out extreme punishment for minor infractions (or even imagined infractions).
Destruction: The rejection of and/or tearing down of people, institutions, objects, or creation itself.
Doubt: a vice which is characterized by withholding of belief in a proposition or person which is nevertheless deserving of one’s confidence.
Duty: sticking to and working to accomplish that which one is obligated to complete either by reason of moral responsibility or due to the delegation of a responsibility by a higher authority.
Eucatastrophe: a sudden and unexpected turn for the good of the protagonist.
Expectation vs. Reality: Sometimes things turn out to be other than what we assumed they would be and our presuppositions turn out to be completely incorrect.
Faith: a virtue which is exhibited by having knowledge of the truth, confidently affirming the truth, and by outwardly acting in concert with the truth, often despite circumstances appearing to support something contrary to the truth.
Family: Defined by the bonds of blood relation, typically, but sometimes friends can become true family. Family are those to whom you have an obligation to support, fight for, protect, and serve because of their relationship to you. It does not always entail the enjoyment of one another although ideally it is present.
Fantasy: a vice which is characterized by believing things are going to turn out well, not giving due concern for things in the future, when in reality circumstances, reason, and evidence, suggest that the future is bleak and requires immediate and hard work if there's any hope of things turning out for the better.
Fate: A sense of something larger and beyond the immediate character and their surroundings which is guiding them to a definite and predetermined outcome.
Forgiveness: Characterized by the need for forgiveness or the need to give it to others. Likewise examples of actually being or giving forgiveness.
Fortitude: a virtue which is exhibited by the willingness to risk one's own personal wellbeing, according to the dictates of prudence, in order to do that which is just.
Freedom vs. Bondage: Escaping from bondage, whether physically, spiritually, or emotionally. Experiencing the sense of control over one's own choices, actions, and/or future.
Friendship: The connecting of two or more people by the bonds of love for one another but not characterized by sexual intimacy. Typically a friendship is forged by a shared love for something, a shared purpose, or a shared mission.
Goodness: An example of a person or people conforming to how things ought to be. Conforming to moral truth.
Guides: Everyone needs guidance and there are many examples in stories of guides being absolutely critical to accomplishing a mission or goal. Sometimes a character needs a guide, sometimes he becomes one.
Gullibility: a vice which is characterized by believing, or trusting in, someone or something which does not warrant our faith and which reason and evidence dictates we ought not to trust.
Home: The longing for home when away on a journey, the need to protect it from invaders, and the way in which characters identify with their place of origin (think of how the Shire shapes Sam, how the mines shape Gimli the dwarf, and how the woods shape Legolas the elf). In some cases it’s found as a longing for a place one has never been to but to which one knows he or she belongs.
Honor: having (or receiving) sincere respect for something (an idea or institution) or someone and then acting accordingly.
Hope: a virtue which is exhibited by confidently affirming certain, yet future, events as sure realities based upon the faithful promises and infallible character of God.
Humility: thinking of others more highly than one thinks of himself; putting others wellbeing first; relishing in the praise of others without feeling jealousy.
Ignorance: a vice which is characterized by not knowing or acting in concert with the truth when it is reasonable to expect that one should know it and be acting accordingly.
Indifference: a vice which is characterized by not showing proper concern for the wellbeing of one’s neighbor which is due to them by reason of being a fellow image-bearer of God.
Indulgence: a vice which is characterized by over-partaking in the goods and pleasures of life without due moderation or by partaking at such a time when it is reasonably expected that one should temporarily deprive themselves.
Integrity: doing the right thing when there is no reward and when doing the wrong thing would apparently go unpunished.
Justice: a virtue which is exhibited by using prudence to ensure the fair and equitable treatment of one’s neighbor and those under one’s authority, according to the moral law of God.
Leadership: taking charge of a situation, making difficult decisions that affect other people beyond one’s self, setting the standard for others by example of one’s own actions.
Legend: A traditional story, often repeated, but without any evidence supporting its truth.
License: a vice which is characterized by the failure to properly guide, correct, and chastise those under one’s authority, including one’s own self, which typically results in lawless behavior.
Light vs. Darkness: The use of the actual terms “light” and “darkness” or the use of the atmosphere of light and darkness in the story, typically used to emphasize good versus evil.
Love: a virtue which is exhibited by an unwavering affection for God, for all the true, good, and beautiful things he has made, and by a disinterested seeking for the well-being of other people, including our enemies.
Loyalty: giving faithful and unwavering support to a person or institution, especially when circumstances make it hard to continue doing so.
Memento Mori: Awareness and appreciation of the fragility of life. The looming reality of death and how we ought to live in light of it.
Myth: An explanation for why things are the way we experience them or know them today. Myths are often factually or historically incorrect but that is not essential to their nature. Some myths are true.
Obsession: a vice which is characterized by the desire to possess, control, and keep in one’s grasp something or someone even if it is to the detriment of that thing or person’s wellbeing.
Perseverance: Refusing to quit even in the midst of great difficulty and/or danger.
Prudence: a virtue which is exhibited by acting in accordance with knowledge and wisdom so as to make the right decision in the moment of action.
Purpose: Wrestling with why an individual or the whole race of man is here. What gives meaning to a life? What robs a life of meaning? How can one acquire purpose and be fulfilled?
Recklessness: a vice which is characterized by thoughtless action in the face of danger which risks one’s own wellbeing, and possibly that of others, without proper respect for the dictates of prudence and justice.
Redemption: Having fallen from a higher status, usually through an immoral action, but now having earned or been granted back a good reputation or status.
Religion: References to God or religion outside of particularly religious texts where they are more normally expected. References to God or religious beliefs in Moby Dick, Great Expectations, or even Harry Potter, for instance, should draw our attention.
Rights: that which is owed to someone by nature of who and/or what they are.
Sacrifice: giving up something of value in service to something that is deemed to be of greater value, even if not for one’s own personal benefit.
Suffering: enduring pain whether physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual.
Temperance: a virtue which is exhibited by the mastery of one’s own passions and desires so as to yield to natural appetites only when it is prudent to do so and to deny those same appetites only when needful.
Temptation: An opportunity to do what is wrong for personal gain or even for the good of others. Often temptation preys on natural or even good desires but it offers an unjust outlet.
Truth: A clear expression of reality or a character’s coming to see things the way they really are.
Peace: A sense of calm and assurance about one’s current circumstances, often despite being in the midst of great difficulties and being uncertain about the future.
Vengeance: a driving need to see punishment dealt against a person, people group, or entity, which a person perceives to have wronged them or someone else he cares for.
Wilderness vs. Civilization: Man imposing order on nature, creating cities, and communities. Sometimes characterized as wilderness equating danger but civilization providing safety. Other times wilderness might be seen as simplicity and beauty whereas civilization is conflated with technology, being overcrowded, and exhibiting industrial ugliness.
Point #1 “Get yourself a nice journal” has proven to be vital for me. The cost of purchasing it and the beauty of well crafted blank pages provides that wee bit of extra incentive to actually keep up with the journal.
"Home" reminds me of the song "Beulah Land."
"I'm kind of homesick for a country,
to which I've never been before."
Funny, it was only just last night that I came across an introduction to these Cardinal and Theological Virtues in the book "Mere Christianity." I think Jane Austen is queen when it comes to showcasing the distinction between Virtue and Vice.