Charlotte Mason I Am I Can I Ought I Will

Every Charlotte Mason homeschool clings to this famous motto: I am, I can, I ought, I will. But what did Miss Mason herself say about this? Why has it made such a big influence on the lives of students throughout the generations? 

First off, the actual phrase can be traced back to Miss Mason’s Volume 1 Home Education, except that it’s not exactly in the order we are used to. It is discussed under the heading of “The Conscience,” where she talks about how we need to have the will to do something so that we can be enabled to do it. But she believes “there is a higher power behind,” called the Conscience, which tells us what we should and should not do. Then, our will responds to the call of our conscience. 

Then, she goes on to say: 

‘I am, I ought, I can, I will.’––’I am, I ought, I can, I will’––these are the steps of that ladder of St. Augustine, whereby we

                    “rise on stepping stones
     Of our dead selves to higher things.” (vol 1 page 330) 

I find it interesting that she connected this phrase which became the motto of a Charlotte Mason education to St. Augustine. In later pages, she says: 

We must go back to the axiom of Augustine––”The soul of man is for God, as God is for the soul.” The soul has one appetite, for the things of God; breathes one air, the breath, the Spirit of God; has one desire, for the knowledge of God; one only joy, in the face of God. (vol 1 page 342) 

Perhaps this gives us a glimpse into what she intended for the motto to be. 

The Charlotte Mason Motto

Let’s take a look at how she breaks down each phrase: 

‘I am’

we have the power of knowing ourselves. 

If she links the motto to “the steps of that ladder of St. Augustine,”  could it be that her idea of knowing ourselves is as someone whose very soul is designed for God? (We can take a closer look at this concept in her Volume IV, Ourselves.) 

‘I ought’

we have within us a moral judge, to whom we feel ourselves subject, and who points out and requires of us our duty. 

Again, this has a reference to the idea of Conscience. Miss Mason is adamant about the importance of knowing the things that we are supposed to do, whether we feel like it or not. 

‘I can’

we are conscious of power to do that which we perceive we ought to do. 

Here we learn that we are not powerless to do what we ought to do, but that we have an innate ability to walk out what we should. 

‘I will’

we determine to exercise that power with a volition which is in itself a step in the execution of that which we will.

Miss Mason puts strong emphasis on the power of our will. In fact, she devotes a whole section of Volume 1 to this topic, entitled “The Will—The Conscience—The Divine Life in the Child.” 

For example, she says this: 

Executive Power vested in the Will.––In the outer of the three chambers sits the Will. Like that Roman centurion, he has soldiers under him: he says to this man, Go, and he Goeth; to another, Come, and he cometh; to a third, Do this, and he doeth it. In other words, the executive power is vested in the will. If the will have the habit of authority, if it deliver its mandates in the tone that constrains obedience, the kingdom is, at any rate, at unity with itself. If the will be feeble, of uncertain counsels, poor Mansoul is torn with disorder and rebellion. (from volume 1 pages 317 to 318)

CM’s Contemporaries on the Motto 

Interestingly, Miss Mason’s contemporaries rearranged the motto into “I am, I can, I ought, I will.” And they also have their own explanations of what each phrase can mean, which I beleive also stems forth from Miss Mason’s principles. 

For example, in Part III The Children’s Tribute of In Memoriam, it says: 

“I am, I can, I ought, I will.” This was the motto she gave us. I am a human being, one of God’s children; I can do right by my fellowmen and by myself; I ought so to do and God help me, I will so do. Is this not a great message she has given us? (page 99) 

In Part IV, it says: 

“I am, I can, I ought, I will.” Miss Mason chose your inspiring motto. You can say,

“I am the greatest thing in God’s creation: a human being with a spark of God’s divine spirit in my body. Because I belong to the human family I can do the great things that other human beings have done. I have powers of doing, thinking and loving.

“I can use these powers. I can change my thoughts from things that harm me and that worry me to the beautiful things I have learnt in my School: I can know the ways of activity, I can think kindly thoughts of God’s creatures in the past and in the present, in this and other countries, of people who do not think as I do in religion and politics.

I ought to do these things: I owe it to my God, my parents and my School.

I will forget myself, and live up to the ideals of my School.

God is on the side of those who will, and with His help we will all go on working as Miss Mason hoped we would. (from page 114) 

Using the Charlotte Mason Motto 

We hope that these insights into the CM motto will help you embrace it also for your children’s homeschool!