Giftedness

[Periwinkle]

<p>Intelligence only carries one so far. More is needed to create a worthwhile life. I am sorry that so many schools force those students most naturally inclined to scholarly pursuits to accentuate the differences between themselves and their classmates. Smart kids have a lot to contribute to the world; they should be taught to think of others.</p>

<p>Others have thought along similar lines, and they thought it first:</p>

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“Above all,” John Phillips stated, “it is expected that the attention of instructors to the disposition of the minds and morals of the youth under their charge will exceed every other care; well considering that though goodness without knowledge is weak and feeble, yet knowledge without goodness is dangerous, and that both united form the noblest character, and lay the surest foundation of usefulness to mankind.”

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<p>[Phillips</a> Exeter Academy | Academy Mission Statement](<a href=“http://www.exeter.edu/about_us/about_us_286.aspx]Phillips”>http://www.exeter.edu/about_us/about_us_286.aspx)</p>

<p>

Andover’s 1778 Constitution charges the Academy to prepare “Youth from every quarter” to understand that “goodness without knowledge is weak…yet knowledge without goodness is dangerous.” This obligation challenges students in mind, body and spirit to see beyond themselves and to go beyond the familiar; to remain committed to developing what is finest in themselves and others, for others and themselves.

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<p>[Phillips</a> Academy - Statement of Purpose](<a href=“http://www.andover.edu/About/PAToday/Pages/StatementofPurpose.aspx]Phillips”>http://www.andover.edu/About/PAToday/Pages/StatementofPurpose.aspx)</p>