Style, in its finest sense, is the last acquirement
of the educated mind; it is also the most useful.
It pervades the whole being.  The administrator
with a sense for style hates waste; the engineer
with a sense for style economizes his material;
the artisan with a sense for style prefers good
work.  Style is the ultimate morality of mind.
-Alfred North Whitehead

In the Dictionnaire Philosophique (1764), Voltaire wrote, “Le mieux est l’ennemie du bien” (“The best is the enemy of the good”), a saying often quoted, often repeated in various forms.  The late Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan in a 1987 speech, for example, put it this way:  “If we get into the mind-set where the good becomes the enemy of the best, we will get nothing.”  Write an essay in which you agree or disagree with Voltaire’s assertion.   Needless to say, the more well developed your thoughts, the more specific your language, the better.

Eligibility: Current Liberal Arts Honors Freshmen and Sophomores

Specifications: 750-1000 words, titled, double-spaced, and typed, with your name in the upper-right hand corner.  No cover page.

Awards:

1^st Prize: $1500

2^nd Prize: $500

3^rd Prize: $250

Submission Deadline: Tuesday, January 21, 5:00 p.m. in the Liberal Arts Honors Office.  The judges reserve the right to withhold awards in the absence of prize worthy essays.