There can be no
doubt that children should be taught those useful things which are
really necessary, but not all useful things; for occupations are
divided into liberal and illiberal; and to young children should be
imparted only such kinds of knowledge as will be useful to them
without vulgarizing them. And any occupation, art, or science, which
makes the body or soul or mind of the freeman less fit for the
practice or exercise of virtue, is vulgar; wherefore we call those
arts vulgar which tend to deform the body, and likewise all paid
employments, for they absorb and degrade the mind. There are also some
liberal arts quite proper for a freeman to acquire, but only in a
certain degree, and if he attend to them too closely, in order to
attain perfection in them, the same evil effects will follow. The
object also which a man sets before him makes a great difference; if
he does or learns anything for his own sake or for the sake of his
friends, or with a view to excellence the action will not appear
illiberal; but if done for the sake of others, the very same action
will be thought menial and servile. The received subjects of
instruction, as I have already remarked, are partly of a liberal and
party of an illiberal character.
III
The customary branches of education are in number four; they are-
(1) reading and writing, (2) gymnastic exercises, (3) music, to
which is sometimes added (4) drawing.
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