Lewis spent decades studying many civilizations including the Ancient Egyptian, Old Norse, Ancient Jewish, Babylonian, North American Indian, Hindu, Ancient Chinese, Roman, Christian, Greek, Australian Aboriginal, Anglo-Saxon, Stoic, and Ancient Indian and identified objective values which they all held in common. These he set out in his Illustrations of the Tao. Although Lewis uses such terms as beneficence, veracity and magnanimity, the eight cornerstone values express the essence of the Tao. Indeed, the most important thing to be, for they are the foundation of character and therefore, the essential ingredient of civility and responsible citizenship. While parents are the first and most important teachers of values and the ones best able to impart Cornerstone Values, the school has an important role to play.
Nothing can replace the home as the place where values are taught and observed.
There, with or without parent's help, children during their earliest years begin developing values and attitudes. This is a conscious and unconscious process that takes place simply by watching parents being. In the school the most effective means of teaching Cornerstone Values is by precept, habit and example. Because values are communicated through relationships, quiet example is the most powerful of the three. For this reason, Cornerstone Values A Values Education Curriculum is not an additional programme to be imposed upon an already crowded curriculum.