John Lancaster Spalding

John Lancaster Spalding
John Lancaster Spalding (1840–1916) was an American Catholic bishop, educator, and writer. He was the first bishop of the Diocese of Peoria, Illinois, serving from 1877 to 1908, and was a co-founder of The Catholic University of America. Spalding authored numerous books and essays, often focusing on religion, education, and social reform, including "Education and the Higher Life" and "Thoughts and Theories of Life and Education." He was known for his progressive views on education, advocating for the intellectual development of both men and women in a rapidly changing society.

Author's Books:


A great man's house is filled chiefly with menials and creatures of ceremony; and great libraries contain, for the most part, books as dry and lifeless as the dust that gathers on them: but from amidst these dead leaves an immortal mind here and there looks forth with light and love. From the point of view of the bank president, Emerson tells us, books are merely so much rubbish. But in his eyes... more...

IDEALS. A noble aim,Faithfully kept, is as a noble deed.Wordsworth. To few men does life bring a brighter day than that which places the crown upon their scholastic labors, and bids them go forth from the halls of the Alma Mater to the great world's battlefield. There is a freshness in these early triumphs which, like the bloom and fragrance of the flower, is quickly lost, never to be found again... more...