“Tolkien begins his sagas of Middle Earth not by describing some vast geopolitical organization, but by ushering us into a snug, well-stocked hobbit hole, in a lovely and rather provincial place called The Shire.”
—Ten Ways to Destroy the Imagination of Your Child, Anthony Esolen

“The imagination seeks out the ideal, and beholds its beauty...penetrates farther to the truth than does the sloth of cynicism...faults abound in every man; the grime of life tarnishes us all. But the imagination forgives the blemish and attempts to see beneath the grime.” — A.E.

“We can do a fine job curdling the imagination by stressing 'creativity,' for the creative child is encouraged to think of himself as a little god, with all his bright ideas coming from within. The older tradition has the poet as hearer...The Muse comes to him.”
— Anthony Esolen

Anthony Esolen comparing the quiet one room schools we used to have with the noisy "centers" (center of what exactly) we have now. I think very few people will ever be able to look wistfully back on their time spent in a prison like complex one of hundred or thousands.