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Gulliver visits the Great Academy of Lagado

In Irish author Jonathan Swift’s 1726 satire — “Gulliver’s Travels” — Lagado is the capital of Balnibarbi whose king had invested a great fortune on building an “Academy of Projectors” so that it shall contribute to the nation’s development through research.

Gulliver describes pointless experiments conducted there — trying to change human excretion back into food, trying to extract sunbeams out of cucumbers, teaching mathematics to pupils by writing propositions on wafers and consuming them.

“Gulliver’s Travels” 1939 Production | (Max Fleischer (1883 – 1972)

“None are so blind as those who refuse to see” is a proverbial expression that has been used by many authors and public figures throughout history. The exact origin of the phrase is unknown, but it has been attributed to various sources, including the Bible, where Jesus says, “For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind” (John 9:39, King James Version).

The phrase has also been attributed to Jonathan Swift, an Irish author and satirist, who wrote in his 1738 work,

“Polite Conversation”: “Blind, sir? I see every day where Lord M– goes upon the bench without his bag, and you tell me he is not blind?”.

However, it is possible that the phrase existed prior to Swift and was simply popularized by him.

Internet Archive: Gulliver’s Travels

Gallery: Other Ways of Knowing Climate Change

Eric Weinstein: We need a scientific revolution

Irish Breakfast

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Newman Centre

“The love of our private friends

is the only preparatory exercise

for the love of all men.”

— John Henry Newman

Coláiste Nuaman | Ballykelly County Tuaisceart Éireann

The Newman Centre in Ireland is a Catholic chaplaincy and student center located at University College Dublin. The center is named after Blessed John Henry Newman, a prominent 19th-century Catholic theologian and cardinal who was recently canonized as a saint by the Catholic Church. Its spaces are open to Catholic students and staff at the university, as well as for the wider community. These include daily Mass, confession, adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, Bible study groups, social events, and retreats. The center also hosts talks and lectures on topics related to Catholicism and the Catholic intellectual tradition, and supports student-led initiatives and outreach programs.

The Newman Center is part of a global network of Newman Centers and Catholic campus ministries that aim to provide spiritual and intellectual support for Catholic students in higher education. The centers are typically named after John Henry Newman, who wrote extensively on the role of education in developing the whole person and fostering a deeper understanding of faith and reason.