Precisely one year ago in the Italian town of Cremona, there was an imposed silence by order of the local government for eight hours a day, six days of the week for five straight weeks. 

We all know that the poor need food and clothing, decent education and good jobs. But what about their spiritual and cultural needs?

Coming to the Masters is an experience of culture, not commerce.

The culture of rushing, either of getting a rush, or of zipping frantically around — perhaps the two are interconnected — means a lot more Martha and a lot less Mary in life.

Do the poor need beauty?

Renowned for his immense learning, remarkable wisdom, lively conversation, and honest talk, Dr. Johnson illuminates the meaning of the art of conversation.

For two millennia, great artists set the standard for beauty. Now those standards are gone. 

The appearance of an art house film on the philosopher Hannah Arendt has sparked renewed interest in an old controversy.

The rabbis talking with the twelve-year-old Jesus about the Torah must have thought that he was a child prodigy.

The desert, Balzac once declared, holds everything and nothing for God is there, and man is not.