From the book
Centuries of Meditations
Thomas Traherne · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordAn example is a case or model that teaches, illustrates, or invites imitation.
- In TraherneAdults first become authorities through their lives, not only through explicit lessons.
- In this edition“Example” does not always mean a consciously chosen role model.
- A place to beginThe child’s weakness, reverence, and ambition make adult example especially persuasive.
Meaning
An example is a case or model that teaches, illustrates, or invites imitation. In moral education it can operate before the learner possesses an independent judgement of its value.
Use in the book
Adults first become authorities through their lives, not only through explicit lessons. Their preferences lead the child to abandon unfamiliar goods and to seek approval in the conventional ones. The same susceptibility can become a means of growth: emulation was implanted so that good examples might animate and quicken the soul. Scripture’s persons and acts also populate the reader’s world with models of enjoyment. Traherne’s account thus makes example a powerful medium whose moral quality depends on what it displays and on the use made of it.
Places to read
- III.7The child’s weakness, reverence, and ambition make adult example especially persuasive.
- III.8Parents’ lives are said to enthral children more than their bodily descent does.
- III.42Good examples activate the natural power of emulation.
- III.34Scriptural history supplies living examples and holy souls for the reader’s enjoyment.
In this edition
“Example” does not always mean a consciously chosen role model. An unnoticed pattern of talk, preference, or conduct may educate more effectively than formal instruction.