A man with no children can easily be lulled into a sense that time is standing still. It's not. It's marching past us, relentlessly. Having a child growing and changing before your eyes makes this unavoidably clear.

— Jonathan V. Last

Anyone can dig a ditch. There's no way to dig smarter. Or dig faster. Having a baby is like being assigned to dig a ditch. That goes all the way to the horizon.

— Jonathan V. Last

Aristotle deemed courage to be the first virtue, because it makes all the other possible.

— Jonathan V. Last

Believe it or not, philosophy has consequences.

— Jonathan V. Last

If you do believe in God, and your first instinct in all things must be gratitude: for creation, or love, for mercy.

— Jonathan V. Last

Justice is the virtue we'd rather have done unto others than practiced on ourselves.

— Jonathan V. Last

One of the mitigating benefits of children is that they make a Lego habit more respectable.

— Jonathan V. Last

The modern virtues fail because they concern the outer self, the human facade, the part of ourselves the world sees most readily – while the classical virtues form an organizing framework for our inner selves… for our souls.

— Jonathan V. Last

To raise a child is to submit to a staggering amount of work, much of which is deeply unpleasant. It would be crazy to have children if they weren't so damned important.

— Jonathan V. Last

Virtues are the internal qualities that allow us to be our best selves and enable us to lead complete and fulfilling lives.

— Jonathan V. Last