Abstract
(First Paragraph) It is a distinct shock for the modern student, smug in the assumption that no older generation knew the difficulties of mental honesty, to read the Confessions of St. Augustine. Herein, an African philosopher, fifteen centuries ago grappled with problems exactly like our own. The human mind has essentially the same needs and conditions in any era whether its thinking is done in an airplane or in Diogenes' tub. In discarding what was dead or irrelevant, the faculties of education have lost sight of much that is alive and relevant. Students who observe the various men they bring into their study see that in any age appropriate conditions must be met before certain human results can be expected. Although the old discipline was repellant, yet the old learning may be respected. "Ease", "spontaneity", "self-expression", are not for this reason infallible guides.