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Vigen Guroian

Vigen Guroian Books

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“So long as self-deception is at the source of a person’s perception of things he or she cannot mature into the fullness of being human or lead a successful course through life. In Pinocchio, the physiological metaphor of hunger represents the many other passions and desires that lead children astray. Like all small children, Pinocchio is often driven by uncontrollable hunger. This gets him into much of his early trouble, while undisciplined passions and wanderlust eventually land him in the false paradise of Playand. But Pinocchio’s longing to be a real boy with a mother and father lies deeper still and is the source of his eventual salvation.”

Self Deception
Book:Tending the Heart of Virtue: How Classic Stories Awaken a Child's Moral Imagination
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“The theme of filial love and responsible relationship with parents and siblings is, as I have stated already, at the very core of Collodi’s story. Being a real human child means being a responsible and beloved son or daughter. Being good is not a means to gaining boyhood or girlhood as a reward. Rather, being good is a quality of respoect and responsibility toward others you love, firstly and especially one’s parents and siblings. This, insists Collodi, is essential to becoming a complete human being. A status as son or daughter, brother or sister, or mother or father deeply defines our humanity.”

Humanity
Book:Tending the Heart of Virtue: How Classic Stories Awaken a Child's Moral Imagination
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“The modern abridgments and retellings of Pinocchio, of which Disney’s only the most well known, soften the violence of death in Collodi’s original tale and as a result sweeten and sentimentalize the love that grows within Pinocchio. Thus they also fail to capture the gritty nature of the puppet’s courage and endurance. Pinocchio’s close calls with death, whether when dangling over the showman’s fire, hanging from a tree, or being plunged into the dark depths of the sea, are also the hard lessons he learns about the true value of life, the reality of reciprocal love, and the necessity of self-expending love in the face of evil and danger.”

Pinocchio
Book:Tending the Heart of Virtue: How Classic Stories Awaken a Child's Moral Imagination
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“I think if we all gardened more, they and all of the other birds that fly in the air above and light in my garden below would be better off. I know that God values them no less than I do. So when I plant in spring I also hope to taste of God in fruit of summer sun and sight of feathered friends.”

IfsThinkingKnowsLightWould BeValuesSunAirTasteSummerSpringBirdGardenSightPlantFruitBetter OffSummer Sun
Book:Inheriting Paradise: Meditations on Gardening
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“Let every Christian be a gardener so that he and she and the whole of creation, which groans in expectation of the Spirit's final harvest, may inherit Paradise. If we Christian's truly treasure the hope that one day we, like Adam and the penitent thief, will walk alongside the One who caused even the dead wood of the Cross to blossom with flowers, then we must also imitate the Master's art and make the desolate earth grow green.”

IfsMayArtWholeEarthChristianSpiritGrowsWalksCreationFlowerMastersOne DayExpectationsCrossesGreenFinalsWoodsTreasureParadiseAdamThievesHarvestGardenerDesolate
Book:Inheriting Paradise: Meditations on Gardening
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