The Writings of John

Corlette

Compiled by the JC Society

(photos to be added)
This document was preparted for distributribution on
scribd.com in at least two formats:

a) Full-page (8.5 x 11)

b) small-book format (trimming to roughly 6x9)
and
c) booklet (5.5 x 8.5, saved in a folio so that when
it is photocopied, it can be stapled through the
center of the booklet)

You can print this document to make it fit in a small

book. Why not print it today and share it with a
friend?

The photos that were pulled off the Internet came

from Creative Commons or from JKMcCrea.com.

You are encouraged to copy the contents of this book

and post it on websites and share it with friends.
Please spread the awareness of JC’s speech given in
July 1973 (the first chapter of this book).

2
With special thanks to Joyce Lowe, Christopher
Reynolds and the many others who helped JC create
a special community of learning.

The words in these page belong to all of us. The

writings of JC could help reform education if more
people knew about his words. We invite you to pass
along this document.

The JC Society

3
Table of Contents

Introduction

1
The Speech (July 1973)

2
Some Meditations
The Aiglon Meditation
Our Lives Are What We Make of Them
The Black Sheep
The Price of Folly
Fear
God's Body
How Can We Love God?
In Order That Evil Shall Triumph
Influence

3
The Exercise (by David Rhodes)

4
What’s Next?

4
Introduction

Thank you for taking time to look at this document.

Let’s start with the obvious: JC did not leave a set of

precepts that were expected to be followed to the
letter. His philosophy of education was bundled up in
the man that his absence makes it difficult to keep the
essence of his educational point of view in focus.

It is the purpose of the JC Society to keep his vision

alive and to promulgate it. Why not aim to have
quotes from his 1973 speech on every classroom wall
or excerpts of this book inside the head of every
teacher on the planet?

Reading the 1973 speech gives most people a sense

of JC’s love of humanity, and his perceptive
understanding of human psychology. What are the
best ways to guide teenagers?

For those who didn’t know him, the rest of this section
contains some recollections by people who knew him
well, plus a short biography of JC (taken from the
wikipedia article about JC and the Knol that Iain
Barraclough manages). If you knew JC, you can turn
directly to the next section: The 1973 speech.

5
"John Corlette believed in educating the whole
person. Unlike other schools where there is a mold
that seems to produce copies of the founder, John
wanted to observe the student and bring out the
individual student's strengths and passions."

From a telephone conversation with Joyce Lowe

(March 2009)

---

JC was a remarkable skier. I remember him gliding

gracefully down the slopes. He also followed
technology closely. He was the first staff member to
ski on Head skis. When I asked him about why he
wasn't using Rosignols, like most of the students, he
said simply, "I like their use of technology."

He placed great importance on the value of physical

exertion and why it was important to let the boys ski at
every opportunity possible. Studies could take place
around the skiing and I think he knew, before the
research was done on how exercise benefits mental
ability, that the brain works better after a workout.

=============

The First Aiglon College Store Serving All

Students. Americans have often been derided for
their flaunting of rules at the school, but their
imagination spills over into entrepreneurship -- even
before the age of 16. Louis Snyder ('65-69), while still
a fifth former, saw a need and filled it by opening an
all student store known as "The Clairmont Club

6
Room", much to the chagrin of school administration
and some local merchants. Clairmont was then
central to Aiglon life and frequented by all students of
all houses as a major classroom teaching block. Little
time existed for students to purchase snack foods and
drinks from area merchants, so the students quickly
embraced the convenience and the assortment of
options. As this concept grew in popularity, J.C. and
Group Captain Watts realized this retail enterprise
had serious legs, so they directed the original "tuck
shop" be moved from its original location on the
second floor of Clairmont, (which was later to become
a dedicated Prefect's Lounge), to a more primary and
central location on the first floor of Clairmont, in the
original library annex. The school library then had the
opportunity to expand to another room...everyone was
happy.

It didn't take long before Louie knocked on

management's door for additional dedicated student
recreational space, so within a few months, an
adjoining veranda classroom was then dedicated to
the growing enterprise known as "Louie's Den". The
Clairmont Club Room continued to evolve with a
greater selection of Swiss confectionary delights,
fresh patisserie from Heiz, potato chips, yogurt, and
other snack foods, natural organic food options (dried
fruit and nuts) were mandated to be carried by J.C.,
cold drinks, and hot beverages added, the first Aiglon
t-shirts and school pennants were designed and sold,
and all sales (money handling) was carefully
documented under the watchful eye of the School
Bursar. All profits created paid for the refrigeration
and hot plates needed as well as an impressive
sound system.

7
Classroom breaks were accompanied by the sounds
of pop music and all customers were accommodated
by the smiling faces of various volunteer students
under the watchful eye of Louie Snyder. Credit was
also established up to one week's pocket money. The
Clairmont Club Room evolved to accommodate this
enterprising spirit and Louis grew to become
'merchant to the world' with his family business in
America known as United States Sales. Who says an
academic environment doesn't provide the perfect
conditions for nurturing future commercial success? –

Louis Snyder, lsnyder@ussalescorp.com

---

Founder's Day: Remembering John Corlette

How do you start a new school? Well, to begin with

you'll probably need a few million dollars to buy a
large piece of land and construct modern buildings.
No self-respecting parents will be interested in
sending their children to a school with poor facilities
which can't compete with the best schools they
already know about. As a matter of fact, there is a
new school about to start in the eastern part of
Holland. It has superb buildings and equipment and,
according to the brochure, will offer a first-class
education. They have already appointed a
headmaster, and are about to recruit staff and
students, ready to open their doors in September
1988. I'm sure it will be successful. I believe it will be
run by an organisation which has already established
about fifty schools, all doing well enough to provide

8
the large amounts of money needed to start up this
new one.

Not so long ago another new school started in a

rather different way. The founder was a rather sick
man who had been fired from a previous teaching job
for disagreeing with his headmaster. He had also
considerable trouble passing exams when a student
himself. He began by renting a room in a cheap hotel
(using borrowed money, of course) and started with
just one student whom he tutored in all subjects. (Not
a very good formula for success.) Against many
people's expectations, however, and with many very
serious setbacks along the way, this tiny school (if
one could call it that) survived and prospered. In just a
little over a year there were six pupils, and with more
borrowed money, the founder was able to rent a
whole house. It took a little over ten years for the
number of students to increase to about twenty-five
and for the school to make a small profit for the very
first time. Happily, it has survived to the present day
and now has about ten times that number of students,
and although still small compared with most, it has
become one of the best known and respected
international schools in Europe.

Of course, I'm speaking about Aiglon College and

about its founder John Corlette. Unlike the school I
spoke about at the beginning, which is due to open in
September 1988, Aiglon had nothing going for it
except the personality of its founder. That proved to
be more than enough, however, and I would say that
although Aiglon has changed in many ways over the
years, it still owes much of its character to the special
talents of John Corlette. So what kind of a man was

9
he? This is a tribute paid by an Aiglon parent from
those early days, Sir Peter Smithers.

"When I saw Aiglon for the first time, it was a handful

of cheerful young men and John Corlette, all falling
over one another in a lovely cuckoo-clock chalet up in
the meadows above Chesieres. They gave me a
permanent impression of having just returned
from the mountainside, to clear their
consciences and please John by putting in a
little study. The study was acknowledged to be
important, but was still second to something
else not easy to grasp, which made the place
unlike any other school I ever saw.

"My wife had carried out a grand tour of the

schools. There had been some depressing
interviews on the trip. 'But,' she replied, 'one
school is run by an extraordinary man; he only
seemed to be interested in Denny as a person,
and didn't bother to discuss anything else. I
think it might be the place for our boy.' Indeed it
was. And that was the secret of Aiglon.

"Now Denny is a major in the US Army with a

row of decorations and citations for valour in
action and skilled staffwork, with a Master's
degree in Oriental Studies, a French, Thai and
Chinese linguist, intensely interested in the arts
and customs of the Orient, and with a splendid
wife. But to him, John Corlette has always
remained 'The Chief' - the man who showed
him the way on the mountainside."

10
I'm reading from an account written by Patrick
Roberts of Aiglon's first twenty-five years. It
makes fascinating reading, and if you're
interested and need a break from study some
time, ask the librarian if you can borrow a copy.

Last Friday was 'Founder's Day'. The

programme which came round the Houses said
that its purpose, apart from being an opportunity
to recuperate a little, was to give us an
opportunity to think about our founder. I'm sure
that many of you felt a wave of gratitude come
over you as you lay in bed for an extra hour, but
let's spend just a little time in this meditation
thinking a little more seriously about the things
he stood for. A lot could be said on this, but Sir
Peter Smithers put his finger on an important
point: "He only seemed interested in our son
Denny as a person." John Corlette was many
things, but he had this quality of being able to
inspire both staff and students because he
conveyed to them his real interest in them as
people. Perhaps we should let him have the last
word. I've read through many of his meditations
recently. They are surprisingly varied, some
spiritual, some very down-to-earth and practical,
but all reflect his intense interest in his students
- very simple but very effective. Here is an
example of his personal warmth and affection
for his students:

11
"There are a number of things which make my
job worthwhile to me, and the principal one is to
see boys making progress. .,. But one of the
nicest things which happens to me is the letters
I get from old boys. Knowing what bad
correspondents boys are, I reckon that it is quite
something that a boy should take the trouble to
sit down and write to me, and I appreciate it
very much, and when they say the nice things
they often do, it warms my heart amazingly.

"The point is that these boys (who write), and

many more, when looking back, realise what a
tremendous lot they got out of the School and
out of their time here" even 'when they thought
they didn't like it. How much better it would have
been if they had realised this whilst they were
still here; how much more they would have
enjoyed it, and how much more they would
have got out of it.

"I realise very well how lucky I am to be working

here in this marvelous place, with people like
you, and with the splendid staff we have. Eyen
the unpleasant parts of my job, I realise, are an
opportunity to improve my self-discipline and to
learn how to do things better. I am very much
aware of all this, and I often pause for a
moment in the course of my work and my
recreation to thank God for it.

12
"Are you as aware as you could be of all the
blessings which you receive every day, whilst
you are already receiving them? Let us pause
for a moment to count our present blessings,
and to thank God for them."

On this Founder's Day, then, let us indeed

pause for a moment to remember John
Corlette, without whom we would not be
enjoying all the other blessings we are so aware
of in this place.

30 November 1987

David Rhodes

Excerpts from the Wikipedia article (posted by Iain

Barraclough)

John C. Corlette was born John Hubert Christian

Corlette on 21 June 1911[1], and died 9 December
1977.

Corlette was an English architect who, in 1949,

founded the private English-style boarding school
Aiglon College in Switzerland. The school is
registered as a not-for-profit charitable institution, with
an international student intake. Corlette was a former
pupil ("Stoic") of Stowe School in Buckinghamshire,
and a former teacher at Gordonstoun, a private
school in Scotland - he included some of the latter
school's educational ideas in the formation of Aiglon.

13
Corlette's death in 1977 came after an extended
illness. His legacy is the school that he founded.

Early years

Corlette was the son of an architect.[2]

As a teenager, he attended Stowe School, in

Buckinghamshire, England. Because of ill health (he
had contracted pneumonia five times), he was
advised to find a healthier environment, and it was
recommended that he attend a school in Switzerland
where the high altitude and drier air might assist his
recovery - the same reasons that Switzerland was at
that time renowned for its sanatoriums for people
recovering from pulmonary infections and diseases.
This is how he came to go to school in Chesières.

University Life and his First Decade of

Employment

Corlette attended ??? university to study ???, and

after graduation he commenced working as an
architect. He later commenced teaching at
Gordonstoun but decided to return to university after
working at Gordonstoun for xx years, whereupon he
graduated with a degree in education.

The Start of Aiglon

In 1949 Corlette opened his school in Chesières, the

same village where he had gone to school as a
teenager.

14
Like his mentor Kurt Hahn, John Corlette wrote no
books to guide future generations in the creation of a
curriculum. His speeches, like those of Kurt Hahn’s,
are peppered with phrases that can guide the reader
away from a focus on curriculum and textbooks and
toward the use of philosophy and environment to
improve the behavior of “the whole man.”

The following extracts from a speech given by

Corlette at Aiglon's end-of-term ceremony in July
1973 help illustrate his vision for the school. At the
time of delivering this address, the school had
expanded to nearly 300 students and had introduced
co-education. However, the precepts that guided the
early years of the school were still present 25 years
after its foundation in 1949.[3]

• Education should be more than academics. We

believe that the goal of education is, or should
be, the development of the spiritual man, that
is of that part of each one of us which, with
development and training, is capable of a
vision or direct apprehension of the purpose of
life, of the true nature of ourselves, of the world
in which we live and of such other worlds or
states of being as may exist besides.
• Standards of behavior should be set by the
school.
• Another of our basic principles is that we
believe that it is the business of those who
direct the school, first to set the standards
which they believe the students should be
aiming at, and state them in no equivocal
fashion, and secondly that they should provide
a method of grading for each aspect which will
enable the student to know what progress the

15
 school authorities think he is making. This
grading should, if necessary and where
possible, be accompanied by explanations
which will help the student to understand his
assessment and plan his future progress.
• In other words, “tolerance of the beliefs of
others” does not mean that there is a
relativistic “any standards will do” approach to
teaching. Multiculturalism does not connote a
lack of universal standards.
• Education requires teachers to look beyond
academics, even if the judgments might be
regarded as “subjective.” This is no reason for
teachers to avoid the responsibility of judging
their pupils' work and progress, moreover this
is precisely how promotion is accorded to us in
real life outside school.
• A rank system or similar structure that rewards
good behavior is central to the school’s
method. It charts the course of the
development of the boy or girl as regards his
character, sense of responsibility, maturity and
general development in relation to the basic
standards of conduct and morality which we lay
down and which are derived, as far as we are
able to understand them, from the teachings of
Jesus Christ and other great teachers. This
assessment has come to be known here as the
Rank System, and is absolutely basic to the
idea of education at Aiglon. Note: Corlette did
not like the word “rank” as it held unintended
military overtones.
• A system of rewarding merit outside the
classroom is needed.
• We get promoted in our business or occupation
and our salary increased precisely as we are

16
 able to convince our superiors in the hierarchy
of our merits with reference to their
requirements. The exception to this is of
course if we are members of a trade union, in
which case, as things are today, our salaries
are increased, not according to our merit, but
according to the seriousness of the threats with
which we are able to menace our employers.
There have been attempts by students in some
schools to follow this example by threatening
the school authorities in various ways if they do
not give them what they want. This could not
happen at Aiglon for the very simple reason
that we would rather close the school than
abandon our principles.
• Education includes developing appreciation for
and a relationship with our environment.
Intimate contact with nature, too, is important,
and a realisation of our living relationship with
it. Hence our adventure training programme.
• Learning to live with others and maintaining
good relations with people is part of an
education. Absolutely essential too is a positive
and loving relationship with all other people
regardless of their origin, background or
beliefs, and a positive and loving relationship
with everything in the world and in the universe
around us.
• The education which we offer is designed to go
far beyond [passing your exams or getting a
better job. It aims] to develop the whole of you
and not just a part, to help you to become truly
and intensely alive, to help you to a knowledge
of and understanding of that part of you which I
call the spiritual part, by attention whose
dictates you can attain to much more than

17
 success in examinations and a good job, that is
to lasting happiness. Note: This theory of
education goes further than a typical school’s
mission.

Links to Round Square

The beginnings of Round Square:

http://www.roundsquare.org/index.php?
option=com_content&task=view&id=25&Itemid=58

Corlette met and became friends with Dr. Kurt Hahn

of the Round Square organisation. Dr. Hahn
maintained that it was crucial for students to prepare
for life by having them confront it, to develop courage,
generosity, imagination, principle and resolution. He
felt that this would result in young people becoming
better equipped, developing the skills and abilities to
become the leaders and guardians of the future.[4]

Aiglon College became a member school of the

Round Square association in 19xx, and followed
these same precepts, giving the school an additional
respect and regard in the educational community.

The Round Square web site notes that, “Unlike all the
other twentieth century educational innovators, Hahn
wrote no books. His testimony and legacy rest in his
schools and other programmes he initiated.“ Like Kurt
Hahn, John Corlette left behind a school that he had
started.[5]

A tribute to Corlette: "John Corlette of Aiglon...was

our most powerful personality and he was the only
one to own his own school. He was urging expansion
and development long before I felt we were ready for

18
it. He insisted that there must be an association
journal but it was not until 1982 that the enthusiasm
and driving energy of Margaret Sittler got “Echo”
going. John was an original and this showed itself in
his creation Aiglon and its most characteristic custom:
the morning Meditation. He collected art and had a
weakness for Jaguars (petrol driven). He was a
master of publicity and used this much to the benefit
of his school. During the first American conference at
Athenian in 1972, Aiglon gave a reception in San
Francisco and a very fine film of the school was
shown with a commentary by the best of the B.B.C.
announcers. It began with the camera swinging
through the arc of mountains between Aiguille Verte
and the Dent du Midi. Then it swept down into the
Rhone valley and one saw the distant road zigzagging
up towards Villars. A small object driving up the road
grew into a familiar streamline shape and the voice of
the B.B.C. chimed in: “John Corlette had a dream”.
There was a chortle of joy from the assembled Heads,
which John took in good part."

The above is an extract from The Muscles of

Friendship - a valedictory speech by Jocelin Winthrop
Young, Founding Director of Round Square, on the
occasion of his retirement, October 1992 (made at
Bishop’s College School, Lennoxville, Quebec,
Canada).

Source: http://knol.google.com/k/knol/Search?
q=john-c-corlette

19
1
The Speech (July 1973)
THE GOAL OF EDUCATION AT AIGLON

An address by the director given at the graduation

ceremonies and prize giving in Exeter Hall, 3 July
1973

---------------------------------

Some of you probably without thinking too much

about it, will have assumed that the goal of education
is the acquisition of a body of knowledge which will
enable you to pass the examinations set by
universities, technical colleges or other such
bodies. You believe that success in these
examinations may enable you to earn a better living
and make more money so that you can more
effectively satisfy your physical needs and desires
and such other needs and desires as can be satisfied
by these means.

Whilst we agree that the ability to earn a good living is

a necessary and important accomplishment we do not
regard this as the goal of education but as a by-
product of it.

We believe that the goal of education is, or should be,

the development of the spiritual man, that is of that
part of each one of us which, with development and
training, is capable of a vision or direct apprehension

20
of the purpose of life, of the true nature of ourselves,
of the world in which we live and of such other worlds
or states of being as may exist besides.

If we are able to achieve such illumination, the

business of everyday life and its problems will be
taken care of as a by-product, and such physical
wealth as we may need for our passage through this
life will follow the spiritual wealth which we have
worked to achieve.

Hence, although we can and do and should work to

equip ourselves as efficiently as possible with the
tools necessary for earning our living, we shall do this
with the more success, and at the same time achieve
for ourselves lasting happiness and peace of mind, if
we set as our primary goal the acquisition of spiritual
wealth or the development of the spiritual man.

The organisation and practice of any educational

establishment should therefore be such as to
recognise this as the goal, and such as to contribute
towards its achievement.

So, if an educator is to have any success in the

accomplishment of his mission, he must take into
account not only the basic aim of the development of
the spiritual man, but also the nature of man and the
practical means whereby he may help him towards
his goal.

Now, man's nature is complex, but for the sake of

simplicity and to provide a practical basis for action it
can be divided into four main aspects, each of which
influences and reacts to all the others. They are the
physical, intellectual, emotional and spiritual.

21
Each of these four main aspects, if well nourished and
well exercised, can help us to develop our spiritual
side, help us to perceive truth which, as we approach
it more nearly, will bring us closer to perfection or
closer to the Eternal One, to identity with cosmic
intelligence, cosmic energy, creative principle or
Ultimate God according as you like to describe
it. This is the ultimate destiny of us all and the reason
and purpose of our lives here on earth.

It follows that any education which helps to prepare

man to fulfill the purpose of his life on earth, must
nourish and exercise all four aspects of his nature and
regard them of equal importance in the development
of the whole man and in the satisfaction of his
profoundest aspirations. The joy and happiness which
all men seek can be attained only in this way. This is
the path to self-realisation and through this to god-
realisation which is our ultimate goal.

All other satisfactions are either a means to this end

or are a mistaken attempt to attain happiness by
concentrating un one of these aspects, or perhaps
two, and neglecting the others. This results in
imbalance and dis-harmony and dis-ease.

So, how, in practice, and in a school, and with the

material, human and otherwise at our disposal, do we
set about this task?

Nothing, or very little, we do at Aiglon is haphazard, or

done because other people do it or somebody has
said it ought to be done that way. Everything we do
has been carefully thought out with reference to our
basic aim and developed from first principles, and

22
whenever new problems or questions arise, we seek
their solution within the same context. We ask
ourselves, "Is the solution proposed consistent with
our basic aim and principles?"

Since this point is not always well understood by

those associated with the school, be they parents,
staff, students or outsiders, it is perhaps worth giving
a few examples of how it works out in our practice
here.

For example, taking the physical aspect, we start from

the premise that the body is the temple of the spirit.
This can be stated in different ways. It is the house
which "we" inhabit during the short span of our life on
earth. It is not "us." It is an instrument which "we"
use to express or manifest the various aspects of
truth as "we" perceive them.

Therefore, the more perfect the body is as an

instrument for this purpose, the greater will be its
contribution towards the attainment of our goal. We
should therefore learn to care for it, nourish it, and
exercise it in a way which will help it to function in the
best possible way for this purpose.

So we have Morning PT, so called. This should be a

few minutes gentle jog-trot or the equivalent whose
purpose is to stimulate the circulation of the blood
after a night of relative stagnation, so that it may carry
away for elimination some of the toxins accumulated
during rest, and at the same time, circulate fresh
oxygen from the lungs to all the cells in the body, thus
helping to keep them in optimum condition.

23
Then we have the cold shower. The skin is one of the
major organs of elimination of toxic wastes from the
body, and also acts as a kind of thermostat or
controller of the body temperature.

To fulfill these tasks the skin must be kept in top

condition.

Owing to the artificial kind of life that man today leads

and the clothes he wears, the skin does not have the
constant practice of having to respond to the forces of
nature such as heat, cold and wet which in more
primitive societies kept his skin healthy.

It is therefore necessary to do this deliberately, hence

the cold shower to stimulate the operation of the
thermostat for the control of body temperature, to
stimulate the irrigation of the glandular and lymphatic
systems and to stimulate the circulation of the blood.

With regard to Sports, games and

expeditions. Because of their value in developing
and training different aspects of the character as well
as for their value in the development of the body and
the maintenance of health, every student is required
during the course of the year (unless some medical
reason prevents it) to:

a) Take part in at least one team game.

b) Ski during the winter and take part in ski

expeditions.

c) Take part in expeditions on foot when snow and

climatic conditions permit.

24
d) Follow a course of gymnastics appropriate to his
ability.

These physical activities contribute also to the

intellectual, emotional and spiritual development of
the student. Intelligence is required to perform
physical activities well. Considerable emotional
satisfaction can also be had from them, from the
physical pleasure of doing, as well as from the
satisfaction derived from successful performance, and
from the companionship with and service to
others. All the foregoing plus the contact with nature
also make their contribution to the spiritual
development of the individual.

Now Food and Drink. This is of the greatest

importance, but owing to the bad feeding habits of
modern civilisation and the resultant falsifying of
natural instincts it is very difficult to handle correctly.
quite apart from the difficulty of finding good produce,
and cooks and housekeepers who understand what is
required and are able and willing to carry out the
policy.

Ideally all the raw materials for meals should be fresh

and biologically grown without the use of pesticides or
chemical fertilisers. They should then be eaten raw
where possible or conservatively cooked in such a
way as to preserve the maximum amount of the
nutritive elements in the food, especially in relation to
vitamins, mineral salts and trace elements.

All refined foods such as white bread, white rice,

white sugar, and anything made with or containing
them should be eliminated from the diet as well as
stimulating or toxic materials such as coffee, tea,

25
chocolate, alcohol (including wine or beer) and "soft"
and carbonated drinks, all of which contain sugar or
chemical compounds of various kinds.

Efforts should be made to dissuade students from

absorbing these things and candy and chewing gum,
etc. between meals and when not in the
school. Since most children are brought up to value
those unhealthy substances, the task is not an easy
one.

A pure blood stream is the greatest defence against

disease both of body and of mind. The old tag "mens
sana in corpore sane" - a healthy mind in a healthy
body, has a great deal of truth in it.

Another of our basic principles is that we believe that

it is the business of those who direct the school, first
to set the standards which they believe the students
should be aiming at, and state them in no equivocal
fashion, and secondly that they should provide a
method of grading for each aspect which will enable
the student to know what progress the school
authorities think he is making. This grading should, if
necessary and where possible, be accompanied by
explanations which will help the student to understand
his assessment and plan his future progress.

And so we have our different grading systems

concerning the activities which are designed to help in
the development of the four aspects of man's
nature. First we set standards
for the students to aim at, then by grading, we let
them know how we think they are doing. The object
of grading is not to stimulate Competition with others

26
but to let the student know what progress he is
making.

Hence we have a grading system for studies,

academic and artistic and practical, another for
sports, games and the adventure training programs or
expeditions, and a third for "the whole man." This last
is of course the key one and combines all the others
in its assessment.

It charts the course of the development of the boy or

girl as regards his character, sense of responsibility,
maturity and general development in relation to the
basic standards of conduct and morality which we lay
down and which are derived, as far as we are able to
understand them, from the teachings of Jesus Christ
and other great teachers.

This assessment has come to be known here as the

Rank System, and is absolutely basic to the idea of
education at Aiglon.

The term is, I think, unfortunate and misleading, with

its military overtones, and perhaps someone can think
of a more felicitous way of describing it.

It may be objected that an assessment of this kind

must necessarily be subjective and therefore unfair.
Of course it is subjective, but so are
all our judgements, except possibly in the case of
mathematics where it can be argued that two will
make four regardless of what anybody thinks about it.

However, this is no reason for teachers to avoid the

responsibility of judging their pupils' work and

27
progress, moreover this is precisely how promotion is
accorded to us in real life outside school.

We get promoted in our business or

occupation and our salary increased precisely as we
are able to convince our superiors in the hierarchy of
our merits with reference to their requirements. The
exception to this is of course if we are members of a
trade union, in which case, as things are today, our
salaries are increased, not according to our merit, but
according to the seriousness of the threats with which
we are able to menace our employers. There have
been attempts by students in some schools to follow
this example by threatening the school authorities in
various ways if they do not give them what they
want. This could not happen at Aiglon for the very
simple reason that we would rather close the school
than abandon our principles.

I hope these examples will give you some idea of how

we arrive at the various practices which we employ at
Aiglon.

Given our aim of the education of the whole man and

our belief that the lynch pin of this is the development
of the spiritual man, we believe that the solution of
this problem ultimately rests in the development of the
spiritual life of the individual,

This can be nourished through many channels.

First and foremost of course come the various world

religions, the various denominations of the Christian
Church, Judaism, Buddhism, Mohammedism, Janism,
Hinduism -- to name some of the principal ones.

28
Then there is today an increasing number of groups
all seeking the spiritual life along more or less
independent lines, some owning allegiance to or at
any rate inspiration from, one of the great religions or
great Masters, others owning no specific allegiance
but drawing inspiration from the wisdom of the ages
wherever it may appear.

Other means for the development of the spiritual man

lie in such techniques as contemplation, meditation,
prayer and the growing insights of psychology and
parapsychology.

Intimate contact with nature, too, is important, and a

realisation of our living relationship with it. Hence our
adventure training programme.

The development of sensitivity to and the practice of

art in all its forms provides a very positive channel for
the development of the spirit; that is through music,
painting, sculpture and all forms of craft -- to all of
which of course we attach great importance here.

Absolutely essential too is a positive and loving

relationship with all other people regardless of their
origin, background or beliefs, and a positive and
loving relationship with everything in the world and in
the universe around us.

This was after all essentially the message which

Jesus Christ brought to us.

At Aiglon we try, imperfectly no doubt, but always

trying to do better, to put these ideas into practice.

29
So, next time you think something we do is stupid and
won't help you to pass your exams or get a better job,
just stop and remember that the education which we
offer, whilst it does this, is designed to go far beyond
it, to develop the whole of you and not just a part, to
help you to become truly and intensely alive, to help
you to a knowledge of and understanding of that part
of you which I call the spiritual part, by attention
whose dictates you can attain to much more than
success in examinations and a good job, that is to
lasting happiness.

******
J.C. Corlette 3 July 1973

30
2
Some Meditations

The Aiglon Meditation

I have many times been asked for an explanation of

the Aiglon Meditation, why we have them and how we
conduct them, both by those called to lead them, and
by others interested in the idea.

The following, therefore, is a brief explanation which I

hope may be helpful to those interested.

The Meditation takes the place of morning prayers or

morning assembly in other schools.

It has been practised at Aiglon since the school's

foundation in 1949.

I regard it as the centre of the life of the school, and

the point from which its whole character and sense of
purpose stems.

Members of the staff are therefore required to attend

at least twice a week, and many attend every day if
they can.

All the boys and girls, regardless of creed, are

required to attend.

At the beginning of each scholastic year I give an

explanation of the nature and purpose of the

31
Meditation and go through the 'drill' of physical and
mental relaxation and of placing the mind in an
attitude of quietness and contemplation.

There are, of course, days when the Meditation 'takes'

better than other days, and periods when individuals
are more susceptible to its influence than others, but
this is what one would expect.

Leaders of the Meditation should be chosen with care

as not everyone can do it successfully. A suitable
senior student can occasionally be invited to take a
Meditation.

In the notes which follow, I hope you will not think that
I consider that I myself come up to the standards I
here lay down. I am only too aware of my own
shortcomings in this as in other things, but one can
only make progress if one has clearly fixed in one's
mind the goal at which one is aiming.

Notes for those taking Meditations

Purpose

To bring boys and girls into direct contact with

spiritual influences so that they may the better know
and understand God.

Form

The Hall door is shut at 8.03 and boys and girls take
their places; 8.05 the person taking Meditation walks
up to the platform, which is the signal for silence. Staff
should take their places by 5 minutes to 8.

32
1st Silence

After taking his place on the platform, the leader

should hold a silence for a minimum of 1 minute up to
about 3 minutes, 1 and a half minutes being a fair
average. He should in any case not speak until
absolute stillness has supervened and been held for
long enough to be 'felt'.

Talk

The purpose of the talk is to drop one, single pregnant

idea into the silence which precedes and follows it. It
should not occupy more than at the outside 10
minutes, including silence, and can be no less than
one minute. The idea can be a quite simple one. The
leader may stand for the talk.

Alternative to talk

Once a week, on Saturday, a 'Musical Meditation' is

held.

The talk is then replaced by a brief but significant

phrase followed by a suitable piece of music lasting
not less than 6 minutes and not more than 10
minutes. The music should be followed by a second
silence as usual. Finally as the leader prepares to
leave the platform he will announce the title of the
music and the composer.

2nd Silence

This should be held for a minimum of 2 minutes up to

about 5 minutes. The longer period should be aimed

33
at. After a brief period of silence the assembly may
appear restless. If the silence is persisted in, this
period will usually be passed through, and a much
deeper and more vital silence achieved the other side
of it. The leader may sit for the silence.

Comments

The Silence. The central and most important part of

the exercise is the silence. For most people only
when the mind and body are stilled can the voice of
God be heard, or, to put it differently, can we pick up
the direct signals concerning the truth about
everything which are constantly being sent out but to
which we are normally insensitive. This is what
meditation is, laying ourselves open to receive the
truth about something, direct from the source and
origin of all truth. Hence, the first place taken by the
silence.

The Talk. The purpose of the talk is to indicate to the

assembly a subject for meditation, very briefly, very
simply, in the fewest possible words. It is not a
lecture. It is extremely difficult to do well. To boil it
down to one idea 5 minutes in length may take 2
hours of preparation and hard thought, whereas a 15
minute talk or a talk of a discursive nature can be
done with Httle or no preparation and fails completely
of its purpose. It is better to have no talk at all than
one which is too long or too discursive. The silence
alone, without any talk, would be much more creative,
provided, of course, that the leader is willing to listen,
but they are not willing to be bored and (as we all
know) their powers of concentration are limited. Thus
talks that are over-long or over-complex defeat the

34
purpose. It should also be remembered that they are
required to listen every mormng.

Suggestions

Stand or sit straight in a relaxed, easy and natural

attitude. Do not bend down in an attitude of prayer or
homage. The attitude should be one of quiet
thoughtfulness, contemplation, meditation, and a
recollection of the presence of God or the power of
truth in the room. Try and project this attitude into the
room.

Delivery. Most people, even those accustomed to

speaking in public, do so very badly, and other people
are usually reluctant to point out their faults, which are
often very simple and easily corrected. The following
faults are very common and very easily put right:

1 Speaking too softly: this puts a strain on the

audience.
They miss certain key words and give up.

2 Speaking too loudly or harshly: this is irritating and

inaesthetic.

3 Speaking the stressed syllables loudly and the

unstressed syllables softly so that the words are
difficult to identify. Result, audience strain.

4 Monotony. The tone and pitch of the voice varying

within only very narrow limits, or repeating the same
sequence of rise and fall, so that such modulations of
the voice as. there may be lose any significance.

35
The voice should be used as a musical instrument
and the speed, tonality, emphasis and phrasing very
carefully studied so as to enhance the meaning of the
words or bring ou t the significance of the passage.

5 Diction. This is frequently appalling, the words being

slurred, blurred, or swallowed. Each syllable must be
slowly and independently articulated regardless of
whether it is stressed or not. You can then be heard
without strain at the back of the room even when
speaking comparatively softly. This allows much more
room for dynamic variation.

6 Speaking is an art, and should be treated with all

the care and thought an art demands.

To sum up, remember that the purpose of the

morning assembly is to develop the spiritual life of
those taking part, that the means employed is silent
contemplation or meditation, and that the talk is to be
regarded simply as an aid to this by providing the
mind with a creative idea to work on as a start. The
talk should therefore be short and designed to present
only one idea to the mind for contemplation. It should
be expressed with as much lucidity, simplicity and
artistry as the leader can summon

Since the silence is the central part of the exercise,

the art of producing and holding a creative silence
should be studied.

J.Corlette

From The Aiglon Meditation: An Anthology (1989)

36
37
Our Lives Are What We Make of Them

Within a few years all you people will be leaving

school and setting out on a new chapter in your lives,
and it is not going to be as different as you think.

However, this is not what I want to talk to you about

this morning. What I want to draw your attention to is
the fact that an awful lot of so-called grown-ups, many
of whom are really only children with grown-up
bodies: an awful lot of these grown-ups spend an
awful lot of time complaining about their own lives,
how uninteresting their lives are, how they never meet
any interesting people, how dull their jobs are, how
small the pay is, how silly their wives are, how idiotic
their children, how unreliable their cars, how tasteless
their food.

Well, all this may be true, and a lot more, but if they
are complaining to other people, and invariably they
do, they are complaining to the wrong person. They
should be complaining to themselves, for they are
themselves to blame.

Our lives are what we make of them, and if they are

dull and uninteresting, frustrated, colourless and
unsatisfying, it is because we make them so.

Our lives are what we make of them, and it is no good

blaming those mysterious people 'they' at whose door
we like to lay so many of our misfortunes. It is no
good blaming God, who is only too ready to help us to
put our lives in order and to see us enjoying them if
we will let Him. As Shakespeare says in Julius

38
Caesar, 'the fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but
in ourselves, that we are underlings.'

What then must we do to lead full and fruitful lives

about which we will not wish to complain?

The first thing (and this is the first step in being really
grown-up) is to understand that our lives are what we
make them, and the credit for a good life is ours, just
as the blame for a bad one is ours also.

The second thing is to know ourselves. We are not all

the same, we are all different. We have not all got it in
us to be leaders, nor should we have. Most of us will
be followers of one sort or another, and to be a good
follower takes just as

much character and courage as to be a leader. We

have not all got the kind of mind that makes a
scientist, the sensitivity which makes an artist, or the
co-ordination and quick reactions \\-hich make a
sportsman. But there is no one who has not got
qualities, gifts and talents of one sort or another, and
we must find out and know what our own talents are.

If the second thing we must do if we are to lead full

and fruitful lives is to know ourselves, the third thing
we must do is be ourselves.

It is astonishing how few people have the courage

and selffconfidence really to be themselves. Yet,
unless they are, they can never have full, fruitful and
happy lives; for a full, fruitful and happy life is a life of
self-fulfilment, a life in which the qualities, gifts and
talents we possess and which are our own, are
developed and used by us to the full. So many people

39
spend most of their time and energy trying to be
somebody else, trying to keep up with the] oneses.
Never mind about the J oneses, they are somebody
else. You can never be like them. Do not try. Be
yourself, and you will be a much better person than
you will ever be by trying to be like someone else.
Know yourself, and, with God's help, fulfil the nature
of your own being; be yourself.

Our lives are what we make of them.

40
The Black Sheep

Every now and then we have a boy at Aiglon who

gets into pretty serious trouble. It may be stealing, it
may be smoking, it may be breaking into a chalet or
damaging property, it may be persistent bad work or a
persistent refusal to co-operate with the school. In
such cases, I have to decide whether to send the boy
home or keep him and give him another chance. Such
a decision is not easy to make. What does it depend
on?

Well, first and foremost, it depends on one's attitude

towards people who do these kinds of things.

Are they to be regarded as worthless, no-good people

who deserve no consideration and should be
removed without more ado, or should we consider
them as unfortunate people who are the victims of
anti-social habits which they have failed to control and
who are deserving of our compassion and of our
support?

If you take the first view, there is no problem. You just

shoot them out and say good riddance to bad rubbish.
But, if you take the second view, as I do, and want to
try and help them over their problem, and put them
back on their feet, then you immediately have a whole
lot of other questions you have to answer.

First of all, is it possible? You don't know, of course,

but you want to try. Secondly, if you keep the boy,

41
what effect will this have on the rest of the school?
Will the other boys understand? Will some of them be
tempted to follow the bad example of the boy you are
trying to help? If you keep such a boy, what will the
parents of the other boys think, what will the general
public think? Will the reputation of the school suffer?
How far are you justified in running any of these
risks?

If you decide to take these risks, how are you going to

set about helping the boy master his problem or
escape from his slavery to a bad habit? Should you
punish him? If so, how? Should he have psychiatric
treatment? Should a master or another boy take him
in hand and give him moral support? The answers to
these questions will be different with each individual
boy and will vary according to the prevailing
circumstances. And, having embarked on such a
rescue operation, at what point do you admit that you
have failed, or alternatively at what point do you
recognise that the damage being done to other boys
or to the school no longer justifies you in continuing?
If you decide this, the boy has to go anyway.

But, if the boy who has been in trouble begins to keep

out of it; if the boy who was doing badly begins to do
well; then all the trouble you have taken and the risks
you have run will seem worthwhile.

This sort of thing is going on all the time to a greater

or lesser degree and I suppose at one time or another
we have all of us been in this sort of position. And
when we have been in trouble, how bitter and
discouraging it was to be rejected out of hand by
some people, and how grateful we were for the

42
sympathy, encouragement and support of those who
tried to help us.

So, when you see anyone in trouble, think of this and

think, "Is there anything which I can do to help him to
straighten himself out?" Very often the most valuable
thing which you can offer will be your friendship.

Meanwhile, you will not always know what other

people are doing to help and it will not always be
possible to tell you. So, try and understand.

We cannot always succeed in being of service to

other people, for in the end each man has to work out
his own salvation, but we can and must always try.

43
The Price of Folly

Not so long ago, I visited Davidson College in North

Carolina, a very pleasant small college with a good
reputation.

When I had had my lunch, it was such a lovely

afternoon that I decided not to take the big, three-lane
Interstate highway back to South Carolina where I
was staying, but to make my way to Spartanburg
along the ordinary country roads which pass through
the villages and farms, and from which one can get
the feel of the countryside in a way which is
impossible from the big highways.

The country was so beautiful with its brick-red earth

and the trees silhouetted against the blue sky, and the
sun was so warm, that I decided to stop and enjoy the
peace of it for a while. I accordingly stopped the car
well off the road, because you are not allowed to park
your car on the highway anywhere in America, and
walked quite a long way across a field until I came to
some trees and bushes beside a stream. There I sat
down on a grassy bank in the sun and listened to the
silence, which was broken only by the barking of
some dogs on a distant farm. After a while, I heard
some rustling in the bushes nearby and quietly turned
to look. It was the birds who had gone to cover when
they heard me coming, beginning to move out again.
First came the little chickadees, with their white
fantails and their chirrupy chatter, chasing one
another from branch to branch. Next came the big
blue jays with their spectacular brilliant blue plumage
and, finally, to my delight, a cardinal, quite a big bird,

44
which had the most gorgeous deep red plumage all
over.

And then, suddenly, I remembered what was

happening to the birds - that they are being poisoned
all over the civilised world by us, by man. They are
being poisoned by the poison sprays which we use on
the crops to destroy the pests. But, in poisoning the
crops, we poison the birds who feed on the crops, but
who also feed on the pests which attack the crops,
and so help to keep the pests down. And as the birds
die, the pests that they would help to control, multiply
and get worse. The balance of nature, which is very
delicate, has been upset.

Not only that, but the cattle absorb the same poisons
which have been sprayed on the crops whether as
pest controls or weed killer, in their feed. And we eat
their meat and feed on the crops and absorb the
same poisons into our bodies. It does not kill us
quickly as it does the birds because we are bigger
and more resistant, but it undermines our health and
is the cause of a great deal of disease and suffering.
Moreover, these poisons are accumulative in their
effect. It is estimated that we have all now
accumulated in our bodies an appreciable quantity of
DDT, one of the most deadly and dangerous of these
poisons. This accumulation is going to increase
steadily, with incalculable consequences for the future
of the human race, unless something is done to stop
it. The same is true of the hundreds of different
chemicals which are put into our food and into the soil
which grows it and whose cumulative effects upon the
human organism no one yet knows.

45
What are we doing? What are we playing with? We
are playing with life and death. We are interfering with
the very roots of our livelihood without knowing what
we are doing, without knowing what the
consequences will be.

God knew what he was doing when he created the

world and everything that is in it. Everything created
by God has a purpose and our business is to find out
what that purpose is and to co-operate with it. If we
run counter to God's purpose, if we go against his
intentions (as we are doing not only in the realm of
nature as I have described, but in the realm of the
mind and the spirit as well): if we go against God's
purpose, we shall lay up for ourselves nothing but
pain and suffering in body and mind and spirit. We
may not pay at once, but do not be deceived: sooner
or later we shall pay.

46
Fear

This morning I want your minds to dwell upon the

subject of Fear - the emotion or feeling of being afraid
of someone, of something, of some idea, of being
afraid of loss, of criticism, or of something which you
believe to be a threat or menace to you or to
something which you value.

Fear is the most destructive of all the emotions, and

most of the other emotions which destroy the soul,
such as jealousy, hatred and avarice, spring from
fear.

Fear destroys happiness. Fear destroys peace of

mind.

Fear eats into the heart and mind and spirit, and
gradually warps and twists and finally destroys it. Fear
is the enemy of life.

How can we overcome fear?

We can find the answer, as we can find the answer to

all our problems if we will, in the teaching of Jesus
Christ.

Jesus said, "Perfect love casteth out fear." What did

he mean?

Fear is rejection. When we are afraid of something we

reject it, we try to run away from it, whether it is a
person, a thing, a duty to be performed, or an idea.
Fear is an absence of faith. We have no faith in the
thing of which we are afraid.

47
You can easily see this if you consider, as an
example, the fear of failure. For fear of failure is really
a rejection of the idea of success, it is an absence of
faith in success, an absence of faith in yourself and in
your ability and will to succeed. If you have faith or
confidence in success you cannot fear failure. Faith
and fear are opposites. Faith brings life; fear, death,
and faith and love are the same thing, for you cannot
love a person or thing or idea unless you have faith in
it. And if you have faith in it and love it you will not
fear it. "Perfect love casteth out fear."

Why is this? How is this? Whilst your fear rejects

things, pushes them away from you, love does the
opposite. Love embraces, draws things to you. What
then must you do, when you are afraid, to overcome
your fear? Instead of rejecting, running away from the
thing which you fear, you must, by means of an act of
faith, go out to meet it, to embrace it, to draw it to you
in confidence and affection, in other words you must
love it. And if you do this you can see that fear will
already have disappeared. Fear cannot live where
love is, because you cannot reject and run away from
something whilst you are embracing and drawing it to
you. "Perfect love casteth out fear."

And do not imagine that you can only feel the emotion
of love towards people. You can, and must, love
everything that is. Not only must you love everybody,
but you must love every thing you see, and touch, and
know. If you do this, not only will fear disappear from
your life, but both you, and the people and things you
love will be transformed. For love is life, where fear is
death. And "perfect love casteth out fear."

48
49
God's Body

I want to pursue a stage further this morning the idea I

was talking about last time, that everything, however
big or small. is an essential and living part of
something else which is dependent on it.

I gave as an example our own liver and kidneys or

hands and feet, which are living parts of our own
bodies and on which we are dependent for our own
lives and efficiency. I said also that we human beings
were an essential and living part of the body of God,
and that He was dependent on us.

This was an arbitrary statement, and I want now to

give another example and to suggest the kind of way
in which this process may be repeated until we reach
the organism which we call God.

An organism is an organisation which has life and

movement, which is directed towards a purpose.

Aiglon is an organism in this sense, and for the sake

of the argument you can say that it has two major
organs, the staff and the boys.

Each of these two organs is composed of lesser

organs which you might call the administrative staff
and the teaching staff on the one hand, and the
different ranks on the other, whilst the organs which
compose these are individual people, in other words,
you and me.

lt is easy to see that the body of Aigion is not going to

be healthy and function well - in other words it is not
going to be a good school- unless the different organs

50
which make up its body are healthy, functioning well
and doing their different jobs properly.

Now take this back another stage, and sticking for the
moment to the physical plane, one of the organs of
your body and mine is the intestine, and the intestine
is full of millions of tiny living organisms without which
it cannot do its job. These organisms are known to
science as bacteria, and more popularly as germs or
bugs. They do not know why they are there or why
they do the things they do do, they just get on and do
it, but the fact remains that if these bugs were not
there in our intestines and busy doing the jobs they
do, we should not live very long. They are essential
to the life of our bodies.

Now let us go the other way and imagine that you and
I and other members of the human race are bugs on
an organ called the earth, which is part of a body
called the solar system.

We fuss about on the earth, dig holes in it, chew bits

of it up and do innumerable other things. We think we
know why we do some of them but we don't really; we
only know that something drives us to go on doing
them.

Like the bugs in our own intestines we are obviously

part of a big organisation whose ultimate object we do
not know. We are bugs on an organ called the earth
which is part of a body called the solar system.

But the solar system is itself an organ in the body of a

galaxy.

51
And the galaxy, of which the solar system is a living
organ, is, along with other galaxies, one of the organs
of the body of a universe.

You will see that you can go on like this ad infinitum

by imagining another body beyond each organ,
because each body is an organ of the body next
above it.

But our minds are incapable of conceiving the infinite,

and so we put a stop to this infinite regression by
saying that the final body is the body of God.

Since every organ derives its life and purpose from

the body of which it is a part, and since everything
that is must be part of the body of God, so all life and
purpose must derive ultimately from God.

It is therefore obvious that we are designed to serve,

and that we derive our inspiration from what we call
God.

52
How can we love God?

Jesus said that there were only two commandments

that really mattered: the first was to love God, and the
second was to love your neighbour, the people
around you, as yourself.

I believe that Jesus could just as well have said that

there was only one commandment, the
commandment to love God, and that he only added
the bit about loving your neighbour as yourself to
make it easier for people who didn't really underrstand
what God was. He might have said, "If you cannot
love God, then love your neighbour as yourself. If you
can manage to do that you will be getting very near to
loving Gael, because, since God is everything, by
loving your neighbour you will be loving God."

"Why not leave it that way," you may say. "Put it the
other way round. If by loving your neighbour you are
loving God, why not say that the one commandment
that matters is loving your neighbour."

You could say this, of course, and lots of people do,

but you would be wrong, because your neighbour is
only part of God. God is everything, and so to love
God you have got to love everything, the whole of
creation, everything that is. You must love, care for,
identify yourself with, and serve with your whole heart
and mind and soul, everything. This is what it means
to love God. It means to have this special feeling of
oneness with everything, oneness with the people
around you, whom you must love and care for and
understand and serve; oneness with the works of
man's mind, like the radio and motor cars, paintings
and music, tables and chairs, which you must love

53
and care for and understand and serve; oneness with
the animals, which you must love and care for and
understand and serve; oneness with the plants and
trees, which you must love and care for and
understand and serve; oneness with the rocks and
the rivers and the soil, with the sunshine and the rain
and the snow, which you must love and care for and
understand and serve; oneness with the Sun and the
Moon and Outer Space, with time and eternity, which
you must love and care for and understand and serve;
oneness with the understanding of these things and
with the Truth about them, which you must and seek
out and serve with everything that is in you. This is
what it means to love God. God is everything, not as
we think it is, but as it really is, and so to love God we
must love everything.

Praise be to God.

54
In Order That Evil Shall Triumph

Listen to this: "In order that Evil shall triumph, it is

sufficient that Good Men do nothing."

I cannot remember who said this, but I am going to

say it again, and think, this time, what it means.

"In order that Evil shall triumph, it is sufficient that

Good Men do nothing."

There are many more Good Men or Men of Goodwill

in the worId than Bad Men, so why is it that the Bad
Men, and Women, and Ideas, so often triumph? Why?
Because the Good Men do nothing. Most of the Good
Men are too self-centred or too afraid, to stand up for
the right against the wrong, and you hear them make
excuses. "It's none of my business," they say.
"There's nothing I can do. Notfiing I can do would
make any difference." Excuses. Feeble excuses.
What do you mean, nothing you can do would make
any difference? Everything you do makes a
difference. Everything you do and say and think,
makes a difference to everyone around you. You
cannot escape from this. Whether you want to or not,
you have an influence on those around you, and that
influence will be either good or bad; it cannot be
neutral. And you are responsible for it. The good
things you do, you are responsible for. The bad things
you do, you are responsible for, and you are
responsible for the good things which you fail to do
and which you ought to do. In order that Evil shall
triumph, it is sufficient that good men do nothing.

55
You and I are Good Men. At least we are fairly good.
Or at any rate we are men of good will: we mean well.

Mean well. What is the good of meaning well? It is not

enough to mean well: you have got to do well. If you
come to a fork in the road and you know that the left-
hand road leads over a precipice and the right-hand
one to your hotel, it is no good saying, when you
wake up in hospital and all your friends in the car are
dead, "Oh, I meant to take the right road. But I took
the wrong one, it was just too bad." It is not enough to
mean well; you have got to go and do it, and you have
got to do it right. In order that Evil shall triumph in the
world, it is sufficient that men with good intentions do
nothing.

There are so many men of good intentions in the

world that, if all the people who believe in goodness,
in peace, in honesty, in fair dealing and in
compassion, were to get up and take their strength
and courage and go all out for these things, the world
would be transformed, most of the evil and suffering
and sorrow and dishonesty and cruelty in the world
would disappear and a new era of happiness and
harmony and goodness would be ushered in. In order
that Evil shall triumph, it is sufficient that Good Men
do nothing. We must never allow this to happen. We
must do everything we can to prevent it. We must
stand up at all times for the right against the wrong,
so that good shall triumph, and evil deeds and evil
thoughts shall have no power over us any more.

(The quote is attributed to Edmund Burke.)

56
57
Influence

What you think, what you say and what you do has
tremendous power over other people. Something
which you say to someone or something which they
overhear you saying, may change that person's life
completely - and most of the time don't know what
you have done. You may suggest that someone read
a book which contains immoral or anti-Christian ideas,
and that person may be influenced by that book and
adopt some of the immoral ideas in it. What have you
done? It is a grave responsibility, isn't it? Or you may
speak of courage and wisdom and compassion, and
so inspire someone who hears you that his whole life
is changed and he becomes a new person.

What have you done? Something tremendous --

something with such power for good that you would
never believe you possessed, and indeed you may
never know of its effects except by chance. And what
a responsibility this is -- for you might have said
something that dragged someone down. Your words
can do tremendous good, or tremendous harm -- your
actions too - because your actions express your
thoughts, and people will be influenced by your
example. So watch your thoughts, your words and
your actions, because you never know what effect
they may have, and you are responsible for them.

58
59
60
3
The Exercise
by David Rhodes

The goal is to define the essence of the Corlette

system and invite the next generation to learn about
the man and his methods.

"THE

JOHN CORLETTE LEGACY"

Imagine you had never heard of or knew John

Corlette. Imagine, also, that your memories of your
student days have been wiped out, except for the
barest details like the Swiss village Chesières, the
O/A level exams, camping in the mountains, etc.
Let's assume, then, that you have no EMOTIONAL
recollection of the educational value of your time
in Chesières, whether it was a rewarding time in your
life or not - all those things which loyal alumni feel so
strongly when they reminisce.

61
What's the point of this exercise? Well, you have in
your possession a copy of John Corlette's 1973
graduation address in which he sets out the goals of
his educational philosophy. It's the longest document
produced by JC and it can give us insight into what
he was trying to do in setting up his school. You are
not allowed to rely on your memories of the man
himself because they have been erased. You read
this document with a detached, analytical eye. You
are looking for those educational insights that strike
you as deeply valuable and relevant to today's young
people, in particular for your own children,
godchildren or friends' children. Try to keep
your sentiments and feelings out of it.

You are allowed to choose only two insights from this

document that strike you as the most important for
today's world. Step 1: Re-draft them in your own
words, in a way that makes them sound less archaic
and more in line with today's jargon. Step 2: Explain
your reasons for your choice of these two insights.

62
You are now allowed to re-connect with your
emotions about the school. They come flooding
back, as if you're recovering from a bout of emotional
amnesia. Read again your choice of the two most
important principles and the way you re-stated them
in modern terms. Are you still happy with your
choice, in light of your vivid emotional memories?
And finally, ask yourself whether your feelings about
the value of your education and your choice of the
two most important JC principles are the feelings of
(a) the young person you were when you were sent
away to a Swiss boarding school, or (b) the feelings
of the older, more mature person you have now
become, or both. When you you done all this and
you're completely happy with your response, please
send it to JohnCorlette@gmail.com and David
Rhodes hilaryanddavid@gmail.com.

(If you didn't attend the school before 1977, you can
still read the speech, complete steps 1 and 2 and
email the result.)

63
Some comments

You are invited to participate in this exercise and

make comments. Here are some examples of
comments that the JC Society has received so far (as
of December 2010):

Building Character and Body

I was surprised and delighted to read this document.

In the speech, I think JC laid out his educational plan
and those building components he believed critical to
achieve his goals.

I am reluctant to follow the assignment’s instructions

and select two essential parts of the program. All
parts were essential and developed to function
together in the master plan. Nothing about Aiglon was
left to chance. I wonder if JC personally wrote the
thirty-six page rule book ! I graduated in 1970 and
during my four years in Villars had some direct access
to JC, when he lived in Alpina. He struck me as aloof
and one of the elite who would prefer the governance
of a benign dictatorship to democracy. This is how he
governed Aiglon, because he was “the boss”.

The two elements that I single out from the speech

are the rank system and his concern for proper
nutrition.

64
About the rank system I quote verbatim, “This
assessment has come to be known here as the Rank
System, and is absolutely basic to the idea of
education at Aiglon.”. JC points out the objective,
behind the ranking, was to let students know what
progress he or she was making. It was not structured
to be a competition among students. The rank system
leveled the playing field within the community and set
goals for students to progress, judged by the staff and
their fellow students.

The second element I consider important was JC’s

concern for good nutrition. In 1973, JC was thinking
about the importance of eating good and if possible
organic food , not stripped of nutrition by fertilizers
and pesticides. My guess is his choice of organic fruit
and produce related to his own delicate health. His
meals were prepared for him by his housekeeper
Madame Cosetto. I also think a respect for food was
developed through the in-house dining system. A staff
member sat at the table to ensure students ate some
of all the dishes which would include vegetables!
There was discussion at table and at the end of the
meal the students would be dismissed. This was not
an assembly line buffet which can lead to bad eating
habits and encourage a social grouping at meal times
of self-selected students.

Well, I trust others will extol upon the virtues of many

vital parts of the program including expeditions, and
perhaps even cold showers !

Best wishes to my fellow Aiglonians,

Noel Thompson ‘70

65
----

Character
I'm all for the reinstatement of a ranking system that
involves "Character Feedback." With all of its poor
application through time, maybe it's the application
process that should be adjusted, not the concept of
whether it exists. Two suggestions about which I've
thought include:
1) not referring to rank changes as "promotions" or
"demotions" but rather as "evolutions," and;
2) Not ranking everyone but rather only 20% of the
student body. I've learned that it is only 20% that
"do." In every community in which I've lived, and
Corlette thought of the world as a community, it is the
same 20% that do all the volunteering and maybe
another 20% that do the "leading." I don't know what
the ranks should be named, and how one works
towards recognition, but that is for the system to
figure out. Good luck to that person that tries.

My Summary of Corlette's prime directive has

always been "the development of the mind and
the body." The mind part always included the
"educational" and the "spiritual." The body part
always included sports (aerobic and anaerobic
activities, including, as a separate activity, "sports
competition."), social sports, and nutritional
adherence. (Wasn't JC correct with his five eating
time zones? Breakfast, 11 am, Lunch, Teatime and
Dinner)

When I look at the philosophy as a whole, from the

view of an educational system, I continue to believe

66
that the application of these principles results in the
creation of "whole human beings," those who will be
satisfied with their contributions and the meaning of
their lives.

In my opinion, Corlette was also driven by what he

disliked. One thing he disliked was War. He took
things that generated conflict and turned them into an
understanding. He achieved this by concentrating on
the positive and turning it into a philosophy of
education. Reflecting on it, his conversion process
was a remarkable achievement.

Pulling out the essence of JC's thoughts and

communicating them so that they are understood in
today's world is an important and valuable task. One
challenge that I see is communicating across the
cross cultural differences of understanding that exist
even within the Anglo-Saxon world. The objective is
to reach agreement about JC's objective so that it
becomes understood by Russians, Germans,
Iranians, British, Indonesians, Americans and others.

John Vornle ‘76

----

God is Our Strength

With regard to instilling value into people: I have

thought long and hard about this during my years at
sea, especially in the Red Sea from 1982-85. During
this time and reaching an all-time low (although
having a job many people could only dream about), I
felt valueless in an impersonal Universe apparently
governed by chance. It became so severe I at times

67
contemplated jumping over the side late at night on
watch.

After examining many faiths and philosophies I had to

in the end reluctantly take a serious adult look at
Jesus. Either he was a total loony in what he said
and did, or he was who he said he was and did the
things he did..... Having settled on the second
conclusion (far away from organised religion), I feel
that my intrinsic value comes from a realisation that if
the creator of the universe sent his only son to die for
me to rescue me from a life of hopelessness and
futility, then I have extraordinary value both here, day
by day and into a future that I get a glimpse of through
the scriptures.

Evolution to me does not give a person value. In

actual fact, I feel that evolution requires more faith
than Christianity and in itself is a religion where God
is time. Evolutionists believe that given enough time
anything is possible with so much matter colliding
around the universe. Evolution which has been a
foundation stone of Western education has made us
arrogant in knowledge and yet bankrupt in value and
purpose. A person needs a logical reason to be
reasonable and evolution is not a good reason.

While watching the sun rise and set in the Red Sea I
simply could not find the faith, strength or purpose in
life to believe in something so impersonal in a world
that is so personal, so beautifully complex and
challenging.

I guess the reason I have said all this is because this

would be the only value I could impart to another
person, For me there simply is no other hope I can

68
encourage a person with to live a life worth living: A
life that is energised daily by a voice speaking
personally and creatively from the innermost core of
the human being.

"Watch over your heart with all diligence for from it

flows the springs of life."

In the desert I discovered a spring of life that has

never dried up.

Sorry if this has become a bit of a sermon! Blame it

on my father!

I guess although being an ignorant, selfish rebel most

of my time at Aiglon there was always this
openness to spiritual searching in meditation,
in discussion and in wearing a blazer that said
"God is my strength" that permeated daily life
there. I personally believe this is the core of Aiglon's
success. It goes beyond knowledge and encouraged
us to search much deeper through inward
contemplation, exposure to such visual beauty every
day and the challenge of adventure through
expedition. On expedition one unconsciously
becomes aware of the inner joy of
companionship, simple food and a hot drink, the
warmth of a fire, and the stars at night.
Absolutely priceless education that guided me on
a long journey to a place where I have found
contentment, peace and joy. If I had not had a taste
of them at Aiglon, I would probibly not have known
what to look for.

That sums up Aiglon for me...only wish I had studied

a bit more!

69
All the very best,

Jeremy McWilliam ‘76

----

Morning Meditations Were Important

After reading JC’s speech, and thinking about what
part of school had the most impact on me, I come
away with three thoughts

I want my students to learn to listen to other people

and themselves.

I want my students to carry important words inside

them.

I want my students to appreciate their time on the

planet and to put their gratitude into action.

1) I want my students to learn how to listen. Really

listen. Neil Postman’s exercise (Teaching as a
Subversive Activity, chapter 10) requires each
subsequent speaker to reproduce in his own words
what the previous speaker said (to the satisfaction of
the previous speaker) before a reaction can take
place. Morning Meditation was part of that process,
since it was impolite to shout back at the presenter
my reaction.

I teach at “second chance schools” -- my students get

a second chance to get into college or to complete
their high school education -- no their high

70
schooling” ... I agree with Twain who said that “I
never left schooling get in the way of my education.”
Meditation is part of my education.

As you can see, I did not follow the strictest part of

Mr. Rhodes’ exercise (since I have not divorced
myself from my experience at Aiglon and I did not go
through temporary emotional amnesia). I did not
divorce my self from the JC speech. However, I feel
I’ve identified the most critical part of the result won
by the meditation period. Even if a school does not
have a meditation period, it is possible to get the
same result... it’s just easier to put the group through
the same process at once. It is astounding to hear
the ringing in the room when two hundred people sit
quietly, many of them thinking about what has been
said. It is like church without the music. “And now
for a minute of silence while we think about the
soldiers in Iraq....” or “.. the earthquake victims in
Bam, Iran...”

I don’t have to impose the structure of meditation to

get my students to have the same experience of
lateral thinking (when Mr. Stunt suggested that we
give presents on our birthday) and appreciation for
history (Stunt’s talk about Stanley Milgram) and keen
observation (Ms. Senn’s description of A Dangerous
Weapon) and listening to something that I thought I
might agree with (Mr. Senn’s God is Dead) and
listening to something that I’m sure I won’t want to
hear about (Mr. McWilliam’s "Death”) ... all of these
topics can be touched on in another way, perhaps by
putting these thoughts onto mp3 files and given to
students for their mp3 players, or perhaps by making
powerpoint slide shows and posting them on youtube,
or even sitting one on one with students and recalling

71
the principal points: “... when I was your age, I heard
something that made me sit up and think deeply...”

The common element of these diverse topics is

“listening to another person so well, I can reproduce
the essence of their thought.” I used to take notes
during meditation so that I could recall what was
transmitted. It kept me focussed. Keep the hands
busy and the ADHD mind can focus its thoughts.
Since I could not instantly reply to the speaker, I came
to learn to take my time and wait... wait for the right
opportunity to respond, even weeks later. This skill
benefited me and I found it easy to follow the
Japanese model of listening to everyone in the room
before offering an additional point. It takes great skill
and patience and fortitude to keep one’s mouth
shut.... especially when one is bursting to participate
and “make his mark” o the world. Sometimes the
most effective speaker is the last one. “Why didn’t
you speak up earlier? You had the key that we were
all seeking!” Ah, but would I have said those exact
words if I had led the discussion? So Morning
Meditation taught me to listening deeply.

2) I want my students to carry important words inside

them. I know from my experience that I might hear a
pithy quote and tell myself, “I’ve got to remember that.
Those words make sense.” I might read the quote. I
might see it on a T shirt. Somehow, somewhat
randomly, the information arrived in my brain.
Meditations were a way for me (and remain a way for
me, when I see and hear meditations on Youtube by
“old guard” staff) to catch some new information.
Oprah Winfrey is quoted as saying that quotations
are important in her life. Winston Churchill is said to
have written that quotations are important for the

72
undereducated person, since pondering words can
lead to bettering the person.

I can get those words into my students in a variety of

ways. Many of my students will not accept or feel
uncomfortable with the procedure of Morning
Meditation, but I am walking in the footsteps of JC
and my other teachers when I recite pithy quotes, like
“Whatsoever things are true” and the contrast that
RFWatts used: Manners Make the Man (compared to
Arbeit Macht Frei).

3) I want my students to appreciate their time on the

planet and to put their gratitude into action.

Why spend ten minutes sitting? The day needs to

start.... well, it’s easy to move on with the day, but it’s
quite calming to sit and plan what will happen in the
next ten hours and then... just to contemplate our
surroundings. No bullets overhead, no sewage in the
street, no earthquakes, floods or avalanches, food in
my belly and more food in the kitchen, nice
restaurants down the street, functioning telephone
and Internet, friends that I can call to complain about
life (a joy shared is doubled, a sorrow shared is
halved), good health... I have a lot to be thankful for.
I might not always sit calmly when I go through this
list. The list of “thanks” might appear while the
morning news introduces the latest events. Whatever
happened yesterday to someone else is worse than
whatever difficulty I’m encountering today. I’m
thankful for the gift of perspective, which leads to that
important awareness that I’m lucky to be here, in this
moment. It’s tough to replicate the soma-like effect
of gratitude. From what I recall of Brave New World,
soma was the drug that the inhabitants took to

73
remove the memory of stresses of the day... and
feeling grateful has the additional aspect of motivating
me to participate in the community. Gratitude leads
to a shuffling of priorities, usually toward making
something better for the group, leading to a better life
for the people who are dear to me.

Again, gratitude begets more opportunities to be

grateful, and that awareness came during Morning
Meditation.

It was not the structure or procedure of Morning

Meditation that I respect: it was the effort to go
beyond academics and “the transfer for culture” to the
next generation. I respect JC’s awareness of the
teenager’s limited capacity to absorb new information
that he’s initially not interested in. Morning
Meditation was one way to sneak up on the teenager
and surprise him.

Does this composition reflect the feelings of (a)

the young person you were when you were sent
away to a Swiss boarding school,
or
(b) the feelings of the older, more mature person
you have now become. REPLY: This essay
reflects the thoughts of the older person. The
teenager was happy to go skiing every day – and he
had no idea what the “educational vision” was. He
just liked the fact that a lot of teachers cared about his
welfare.

Steve Conger
applicant to the John Corlette Society.

74
4
What’s Next?
Now it’s your turn. Read the speech again and take
time to do the exercise (devised by David Rhodes).

How relevant is JC’s philosophy of education today?

What might be done to bring some of the elements

“up to date” with recent research?

For students and teachers who worked at JC’s school

in the 1960s and 1970s: What worked? What didn’t
work?

---

Aims of the JC Society

(1) JCS aims to record the memories of people who
knew John Corlette. The purpose is to capture the
spirit of his vision (because JC did not write widely
about his methods) and share the materials with
everyone on the planet.

(2) JCS aims to make copies of its recordings and

seek copies of papers (where appropriate) and of past
meetings that highlight the spirit of JC's vision.

75
 Distribution can be privately, person to person, or by
posting information on this website.

(3) JCS is a forum where people can discuss and

advocate for JC's principles of education.

Membership
(1) Anyone who has written at least 50 words about
the JC speech (given in July 1973) will be invited to
become a member of the John Corlette Society.
Everyone on the planet is encouraged to read the
speech and write a summary to show a measure of
support for JC's vision.

To receive the infrequent "JCS E-Newsletter," send

your electronic address to JohnCorlette@gmail.com.
Past issues of the newsletter are posted on this site.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

• It seems like the group as being set up with

an "elitist" approach - giving a "test" for
entrants, and denying people holding a
certain belief.

If the measure of support is negative, or if the

applicant denies the relevance of JC's principles in
today's society, the person will still be invited to join
the JC Society.

• An open, egalitarian group is more likely to

be free of "groupthink" (per George
Orwell's "1984") and to possess a greater
degree of diversity.

76
Let's avoid "groupthink" and encourage people who
have criticisms of JC's methods to speak up. All are
invited to complete the exercise written by David
Rhodes.

• Why the emphasis on "people who "knew"

JC"?

It is only through people who knew JC that we can

know the person and additional procedures. Perhaps
by digging into the archives, we can unveil some
forgotten principles.

---

Please send your comments to

JohnCorlette@gmail.com.

The JC Society

77