Spreading "Rumors of War"

I was born in Stuart Circle Hospital, named after the striking sculpture of the Confederate general at the circle’s center. Over the years from the backseat of the family station wagon, I anticipated the galloping horse as we got closer, turning to look back at the rider’s plumed hat and cape. My last image was always of the spurs on the heel his left boot, barely secured in the stirrup. Fortunately, mine is not the only imagination captured by this sculpture. Meet Kehinde Wiley’s 2019 re-imagination of another whinnying horse and purposeful rider.

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Arthur Ashe Wins Again, Love and Love

Arthur Ashe’s life could have been the long story of all the things that he could not do. Instead, through inner resolve and self-confidence, he did it all. What a fine example he is in these dark days in the United States. He suggests to each of us a way forward. In Arthur’s words: “Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.”

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High School Wish List: The Gifts of Simplicity and Quiet

I didn’t know what to expect on my first meeting with Student Council officers at Albemarle High School. What would they think of the chapter on Simplicity in How Philosophy Can Save Your Life? The new philosophers wholeheartedly embraced the concept of simplicity and had lots to say in our hour and twenty minutes together...

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What Aung San Suu Kyi Teaches Me

Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma’s 1991 Nobel Peace Prize winner, is featured in The Philosopher’s Table in my chapter entitled “Persistence and Grace.” Among the quotes from Suu Kyi that I reference: “I don’t give up trying to be a better person…a battle that will go on my whole life.” “In my life I have been showered with kindness…more than love, I value kindness.”

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