Chesterton Academy of Ottawa

Realize Your Full Academic Potential - OUR INTEGRATED, CLASSICAL CURRICULUM WILL PREPARE YOU FOR COLLEGE—AND FOR LIFE

[Chesterton Academy of Ottawa @ChestertonOTT]

It is that time of year again.

Students, including ours, here at Ottawa's Chesterton Academy, are deeply immersed in study and final exams.

Please remember them in your prayers.

#ChestertonAcademyOfOttawa

[Chesterton Academy of Ottawa @ChestertonOTT]

Class of 2026

Congratulations to our 2026 graduates, enjoying the moment here with Headmaster, TJStevens

#ChestertonAcademyOfOttawa

Ottawa, Canada

https://t.co/EvALSFmX2X

[The Culturist @the_culturist_]

Social media feeds tell us to "read the classics!" and "dark academia" glorifies the aesthetics of old books.

But why should we read the great books?

Chesterton makes a powerful argument. On classic literature, he states: "it prevents a man from being merely modern."

Reading the greats exposes us to the full picture of truth, not just the popular ideas or slivers of truth that dominate culture at the given moment. We avoid becoming products of our time:

"To be merely modern is to condemn oneself to an ultimate narrowness; just as to spend one's last earthly money on the newest hat is to condemn oneself to the old-fashioned. The road of the ancient centuries is strewn with dead moderns."

Even more, it inoculates us from dangerous half-truths, by exposing us instead to "the whole truth which humanity has found." Chesterton explains "half-truths" as follows:

"In the old world they were called heresies. In the modern world they are called fads. Sometimes they are for a time useful; sometimes they are wholly mischievous. But they always consist of undue concentration upon some one truth or half-truth."

"Whole truth" is instead found in the collective wisdom of the past, not the worldview of a single or select few authors.

And who is most vulnerable to fall for half-truths? Not people who don't read at all, but those who do read, but who don't read enough.

When supposedly "new" ideas or half-truths come knocking, you have to be ready to identify and expose them. Chesterton pointed out Nietzsche's apparently new concept of slave morality: the idea that ordinary altruistic morality was invented by a slave class to suppress the rise of superior individuals who would naturally rule over them.

We are only fully equipped to encounter such an idea if we've already read Shakespeare. 250 years before Nietzsche, Shakespeare penned Richard III, in which we read:

"Conscience is but a word that cowards use,
Devised at first to keep the strong in awe."
— King Richard; Act V, Scene 3

Shakespeare had indeed conceived of "slave morality" centuries before Nietzsche.

But, as Chesterton explained, "he weighed it at its proper value and put it in its proper place. Its proper place is the mouth of a half-insane hunchback on the eve of defeat."

The reason we read the classics, then, is so that we can put ideas in their proper place…

"What we call the new ideas are generally broken fragments of the old ideas. It was not that a particular notion did not enter Shakespeare's head; it is that it found a good many other notions waiting to knock the nonsense out of it."

[Sean Degidon ✝❤️‍🔥🗽 @SDegidon]

@ChestertonOTT @PageauJonathan Re: "Consciousness is not just something happening up in your brain, consciousness is an embodied experience."
That quote alone is worth the listen. Pageau is excellent!

[Chesterton Academy of Ottawa @ChestertonOTT]

AI (Artificial Intelligence) is a hot topic, today

On May 30th, Canada's popular @PageauJonathan generously addressed our fundraiser; exposing the power of AI & how it may or will influence us

Mr. Pageau's address begins at 13 minutes (approx)

Enjoy

https://t.co/KKn0mTihJa

[Chesterton Academy of Ottawa @ChestertonOTT]

@ElyzavetaB @PageauJonathan And here
https://t.co/14laIjrwo6

[Chesterton Academy of Ottawa @ChestertonOTT]

Here it is

For your edification
&
Education

#ChestertonAcademyOfOttawa

Gratefully presents

@PageauJonathan

during his amazing
May 30th #Ottawa visit & presentation

Enjoy & please share

Thank you for supporting Chesterton Academy of Ottawa

https://t.co/KKn0mTihJa

[Chesterton Academy of Ottawa @ChestertonOTT]

#OTTAWA

Countdown: Only ONE day to go

Chesterton Academy
&
Guest Speaker
@PageauJonathan

➡️Tickets here:
https://t.co/F5IwHeEzRi

[Chesterton Academy of Ottawa @ChestertonOTT]

@ElyzavetaB @PageauJonathan Here
https://t.co/iUNaN4kOWb

[Chesterton Academy of Ottawa @ChestertonOTT]

The
Chesterton Academy
&
@PageauJonathan
Event
commences shortly

#LiveStream tickets issued upon receipt of remittance

Enjoy
https://t.co/fBbiLqW7aW

[Chesterton Academy of Ottawa @ChestertonOTT]

The address by Mr Pageau (@PageauJonathan) commences at approximately 13 minutes.

Enjoy
https://t.co/14laIjrwo6

[Chesterton Academy of Ottawa @ChestertonOTT]

Here it is

For your edification
&
Education

#ChestertonAcademyOfOttawa

Gratefully presents

@PageauJonathan

during his amazing
May 30th #Ottawa visit & presentation

Enjoy & please share

Thank you for supporting Chesterton Academy of Ottawa

https://t.co/KKn0mTihJa

[Chesterton Academy of Ottawa @ChestertonOTT]

Here it is

For your edification
&
Education

#ChestertonAcademyOfOttawa

Gratefully presents

@PageauJonathan

during his amazing
May 30th #Ottawa visit & presentation

Enjoy & please share

Thank you for supporting Chesterton Academy of Ottawa

https://t.co/KKn0mTihJa

[Chesterton Academy of Ottawa @ChestertonOTT]

Remember

This evening

You are booked
https://t.co/bm4M8i2BbU

[Chesterton Academy of Ottawa @ChestertonOTT]

#ChestertonAcademyOfOttawa

Presents

@PageauJonathan, during his incredible May 30th #Ottawa visit and presentation

Video release
June 2nd, 2026
at
approximately
5:00 PM

Do not miss this

Stay tuned

[Chesterton Academy of Ottawa @ChestertonOTT]

#ChestertonAcademyOfOttawa

Presents

@PageauJonathan, during his incredible May 30th #Ottawa visit and presentation

Video release
June 2nd, 2026
at
approximately
5:00 PM

Do not miss this

Stay tuned

[Chesterton Academy of Ottawa @ChestertonOTT]

We are hopeful the video of @PageauJonathan's incredible presentation & visit with #ChestertonAcademyofOttawa will be available soon

Stay tuned

Also, congratulations to our winners

Following his presentation, the 3 early booking tickets were drawn

Winners will be notified

[Chesterton Academy of Ottawa @ChestertonOTT]

Thank you @PageauJonathan for such an enlightening talk

It has already made for some great conversations & reflection on my own teaching

I hope that Chesterton can be the soil in which the seeds of your ideas grow

God bless,
TJ Stevens, Headmaster
#ChestertonAcademyofOttawa

[Chesterton Academy of Ottawa @ChestertonOTT]

The
Chesterton Academy
&
@PageauJonathan
Event
commences shortly

#LiveStream tickets issued upon receipt of remittance

Enjoy
https://t.co/fBbiLqW7aW

[Chesterton Academy of Ottawa @ChestertonOTT]

#Ottawa

➡️ T H I S ⬅️

⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️

https://t.co/o3Wvx2CCq0

[Chesterton Academy of Ottawa @ChestertonOTT]

Today

The BIG day we have been waiting for

@PageauJonathan
&
Chesterton Academy

Ottawa Canada

Tickets & directions below

See you there
https://t.co/XzX8qcM8XH

[Chesterton Academy of Ottawa @ChestertonOTT]

Today

The BIG day we have been waiting for

@PageauJonathan
&
Chesterton Academy

Ottawa Canada

Tickets & directions below

See you there
https://t.co/XzX8qcM8XH

[Chesterton Academy of Ottawa @ChestertonOTT]

Today

The BIG day we have been waiting for

@PageauJonathan
&
Chesterton Academy

Ottawa Canada

Tickets & directions below

See you there
https://t.co/XzX8qcM8XH

[Chesterton Academy of Ottawa @ChestertonOTT]

Saturday
May 30th
#Ottawa
2 PM (be early)

#ChestertonAcademyOfOttawa

Hosts special guest
@PageauJonathan

TICKETS:
https://t.co/F5IwHeEzRi

DiRECTIONS:
https://t.co/9JuvCFVeDW

[Chesterton Academy of Ottawa @ChestertonOTT]

Saturday
May 30th
#Ottawa
2 PM (be early)

#ChestertonAcademyOfOttawa

Hosts special guest
@PageauJonathan

TICKETS:
https://t.co/F5IwHeEzRi

DiRECTIONS:
https://t.co/9JuvCFVeDW

[Chesterton Academy of Ottawa @ChestertonOTT]

This is it

The Vigil

#Ottawa's #CarletonUniversity hall is massive, for our @PageauJonathan visit, so there are still seats available

Grab your tickets now
https://t.co/kTjouI5vEI

[Chesterton Academy of Ottawa @ChestertonOTT]

#OTTAWA

Countdown: Only ONE day to go

Chesterton Academy
&
Guest Speaker
@PageauJonathan

➡️Tickets here:
https://t.co/F5IwHeEzRi

[Chesterton Academy of Ottawa @ChestertonOTT]

TOMORROW
in
#Ottawa

Canada's @PageauJonathan

https://t.co/kTjouI5vEI

[Chesterton Academy of Ottawa @ChestertonOTT]

#OTTAWA

Countdown: Only ONE day to go

Chesterton Academy
&
Guest Speaker
@PageauJonathan

➡️Tickets here:
https://t.co/F5IwHeEzRi