Universities are being re-defined in many ways: as levers of social mobility, as engines of local economic growth, as founts of technological advances that are changing society.
By now you could be forgiven for thinking that what Housman meant by classical studies had nothing to do with literature — or, at any rate, that he treated ancient texts not as founts of wisdom but as diseased bodies that required unflinching attention if they were to be made whole.
Why honesty is the best policy Feeling frugal The spirit of St Louis The return of von Clausewitz ReprintsIn recent years von Clausewitz and other military strategists, such as the ancient Chinese sage Sun Tzu (whose "Art of War" first appeared on the shelves 2,500 years ago), have fallen out of favour as founts of wisdom for top managers.
Young female singer-songwriters are often written about as founts of pure youthful angst and emotion, but each of these writers has a keen command of irony, and will often triangulate the sentiment of a lyric against the melody it rides on and the way she sings the line.
Further, local and state politicians were keen to maintain the reputation of both San Francisco and California as founts of innovation.
In many places around the world, taxi drivers are seen as founts of common sense - as grafting small businessmen who meet folks from all walks of life and are somehow uniquely qualified to pontificate on the issues of the day.
It's difficult for Kinsley to argue against the way in which Warren Christopher and Lawrence Eagleburger were universally regarded as founts of natural animal charisma.
But he said he expected to keep a strong presence in China, which he describes as a fount of wonderful untold stories as well as a low-cost place to make movies.
Mackey, an unrepentant foot-in-mouther, as often a fount of exasperation as of inspiration, tried to explain that his comment had been misunderstood.
