Last week I gave my children a vocabulary word,
abstract.
I was trying to describe its meaning outside what the dictionary said. I contrasted it with the word concrete and then told of the difference between a concrete and an abstract noun. I gave them the example that freedom is an abstract noun.
I found a quote that gives several examples of the abstract and it also sends a good message. It is by a former president, Calvin Coolidge. I found it on Mrs. Happy Housewife:
We do not need more material development,
we need more spiritual development.
We do not need more intellectual power,
we need more moral power.
We do not need more knowledge,
we need more character.
We do not need more government,
we need more culture.
We do not need more law,
we need more religion.
We do not need more of the things that are seen,
we need more of the things that are unseen.”
-Calvin Coolidge