Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Comment on this quoteShare via Email Print this Page Daily Quotes Archives2009-01-19 Jan 19, 2009Nature intended me for the tranquil pursuits of science, by rendering them my supreme delight. But the enormities of the times in which I have lived have forced me to commit myself on the boisterous ocean of political passions.~ Thomas JeffersonI do believe that General Washington had not a firm confidence in the durability of our government. He was naturally distrustful of men, and inclined to gloomy apprehensions; and I was ever persuaded that a belief that we must at length end in something like a British constitution, had some weight in his adoption of the ceremonies of levees, birthdays, pompous meetings with Congress, and other forms of the same character, calculated to prepare us gradually for a change which he believed possible, and to let it come on with as little shock as might be to the public mind.~ Thomas JeffersonNo man will ever bring out of the Presidency the reputation which carries him into it.~ Thomas Jefferson Jan 16, 2009Public educators, like Soviet farmers, lack any incentive to produce results, innovate, to be efficient, to make the kinds of difficult changes that private firms operating in a competitive market must make to survive.~ Carolyn LochheadI suppose it is because nearly all children go to school nowadays and have things arranged for them that they seem so forlornly unable to produce their own ideas.~ Agatha ChristieGovernment schools can't teach reading, writing, and arithmetic -- why should we trust them to teach morality, respect, and character? If public education does for ethics what it's done for learning, we'll end up with a generation of immoral, disrespectful, and characterless students.~ Steve Dasbach 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 Previous week's quotes Next week's quotes Share on Facebook Tweet Email Print