Anyone who has passed through the regular gradations of a classical education, and is not made a fool by it, may consider himself as having had a very narrow escape.
—William Hazlitt, 1821Quotes
Spoon feeding in the long run teaches us nothing but the shape of the spoon.
—E.M. Forster, 1951Rewards and punishment are the lowest form of education.
—Zhuangzi, c. 286 BCIn the first place God made idiots. This was for practice. Then he made school boards.
—Mark Twain, 1897The Romans would never have found time to conquer the world if they had been obliged first to learn Latin.
—Heinrich Heine, 1827If the heavens were all parchment, and the trees of the forest all pens, and every human being were a scribe, it would still be impossible to record all that I have learned from my teachers.
—Jochanan ben Zakkai, c. 75Repetition is the mother of education.
—Jean Paul, 1807What harm is there in getting knowledge and learning, were it from a sot, a pot, a fool, a winter mitten, or an old slipper?
—François Rabelais, 1533It is a greater advantage to be honestly educated than honorably born.
—Erasmus, 1518Knowledge is an ancient error reflecting on its youth.
—Francis Picabia, 1949That which is evil is soon learned.
—John Ray, 1670Real education must ultimately be limited to men who insist on knowing—the rest is mere sheep herding.
—Ezra Pound, 1934The period of a [Persian] boy’s education is between the ages of five and twenty, and he is taught three things only: to ride, to use the bow, and to speak the truth.
—Herodotus, c. 440 BC