Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Comment on this quoteShare via Email Print this Page Daily Quotes Archives2009-01-15 Jan 15, 2009The historian’s first duties are sacrilege and the mocking of false gods. They are his indispensable instruments for establishing the truth.~ Jules MicheletIf it would be wrong for the government to adopt an official religion, then, for the same reasons, it would be wrong for the government to adopt official education policies. The moral case for freedom of religion stands or falls with that for freedom of education. A society that champions freedom of religion but at the same time countenances state regulation of education has a great deal of explaining to do.~ James R. OttesonIn all countries, in all centuries, the primary reason for government to set up schools is to undermine the politically weak by convincing their children that the leaders are good and their policies are wise. The core is religious intolerance. The sides simply change between the Atheists, Catholics, Protestants, Unitarians, etc., depending whether you are talking about the Soviet Union, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, America, etc. A common second reason is to prepare the boys to go to war and the girls to cheer them on.~ Marshall Fritz Jan 14, 2009In 100 years we have gone from teaching Latin and Greek in high school to teaching Remedial English in college.~ Joseph SobranIf the only motive was to help people who could not afford education, advocates of government involvement would have simply proposed tuition subsidies.~ Milton FriedmanGovernment will not fail to employ education to strengthen its hands and perpetuate its institutions.~ William Godwin Jan 13, 2009School is the advertising agency which makes you believe that you need the society as it is.~ Ivan IllichWhat's the difference between a bright, inquisitive five-year-old, and a dull, stupid nineteen-year-old? Fourteen years of the British educational system.~ Bertrand RussellSchool is the first impression children get of organized society. Like most first impressions it is the lasting one. Life is dull and stupid, only Coke provides relief. And other products, too, of course.~ John Taylor Gatto Jan 12, 2009As we all learned from the sorry experience of state-sanctioned bureaucracies in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union, decentralization [in education] is crucial to both freedom and excellence.~ Jerry BrownThe more subsidized it is, the less free it is. What is known as "free education" is the least free of all, for it is a state-owned institution; it is socialized education - just like socialized medicine or the socialized post office - and cannot possibly be separated from political control.~ Frank ChodorovThe first goal and primary function of the U.S. public school is not to educate good people, but good citizens. It is the function which we call - in enemy nations - 'state indoctrination.'~ Jonathan Kozol Jan 9, 2009The public expects too much from teachers because educationists have led it to believe teachers could be substitute parents, psychotherapists, cops, social workers, dieticians, nursemaids, babysitters, and nose wipers and still do a decent job teaching kids to read, write, and do math. Instead of saying no, educationists have added courses in environmental education, death education, personal hygiene, self-esteem, driver's ed, job readiness, sexual harassment, radon studies, yoga, yogurt awareness, and god-knows-what-else.~ Charlie SykesThat erroneous assumption is to the effect that the aim of public education is to fill the young of the species with knowledge and awaken their intelligence, and so make them fit to discharge the duties of citizenship in an enlightened and independent manner. Nothing could be further from the truth. The aim of public education is not to spread enlightenment at all, it is simply to reduce as many individuals as possible to the same safe level, to breed and train a standardized citizenry, to put down dissent and originality. That is its aim in the United States, whatever the pretensions of politicians, pedagogues and other such mountebanks, and that is its aim everywhere else.~ H. L. MenckenA tax supported, compulsory educational system is the complete model of the totalitarian state.~ Isabel Paterson Previous week's quotes Next week's quotes Share on Facebook Tweet Email Print