Within this paragraph, the authors and early founders of UVA made several points on why education was necessary by countering some of the current one-sided beliefs of society, with some key words. Man was not stagnant and his improvements did not need to be a chimaera, or a thing that is hoped or wished for but in fact is illusory or impossible to achieve. The other definition of chimaera is a fire-breathing monster from Greek mythology, which I think can be an interpretation that improvements to one’s morality and state of mind did not need to feel like some huge obstacle that we needed to face, but rather were very possible through knowledge. Then later, they speak about how the effects of education are not some far-fetched, optimistic, or “sanguine” hope, and marketing strategy, but a reality that is backed by proof. I found this all very interesting because, back then, education was still a point of debate, whereas now it’s one the most easily agreed solutions for a various of world problems.