Thought is too rapid, too ephemeral, too much influenced by emotion. Writing is a discipline, and a good one, too. Writing is also persuasion. Though it is relatively unlikely that any of use will materially alter the course of events with a contribution to the Brown Classical Journal, we may yet change the minds of some people, and we can in any event be preparing ourselves for future endeavors which may change or modify the current state of affairs. We are all in a position in which we must influence opinion, and the sooner we become used to the responsibility of expressing our views forcefully and in print, the better.
Writing can serve to test and strengthen the mind and the imagination.
Achilles, the heroic Achilles, behaved petulantly when Agamemnon took away Briseis, and refused to return to battle even when the Greeks were being defeated. Homer wrote a poem about all of this, and Catullus seems both to have lived it and to have written it. Perhaps we should emulate them in creating poems rather than learned tracts, though I do not recommend petulance as the only model for life. The Journal is on its way, and we should rejoice. But it will need help, and I urge all classicists, fledgling or experienced, to contribute papers, articles, poems and reflection to this new venture.