“Because the bulk of mankind has never had the chance to get a liberal education, it cannot be "proved" that they can get it. Neither can it be "proved" that they cannot. The statement of the ideal, however, is of value in indicating the direction that education should take.”

—  Robert Maynard Hutchins

Great Books: The Foundation of a Liberal Education (1954)

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "Because the bulk of mankind has never had the chance to get a liberal education, it cannot be "proved" that they can ge…" by Robert Maynard Hutchins?
Robert Maynard Hutchins photo
Robert Maynard Hutchins 38
philosopher and university president 1899–1977

Related quotes

“The reason for getting an education here—or anywhere else—is that it is better to be educated than not to be. It is better in and of itself. Not because it gets you something. Not because it is a means to some other end. It is better because it is better. Note that this statement implies that the phrase “aims of education” is nonsensical; education is not a thing of which aims can be predicated. It has no aim other than itself.”

Andrew Abbott (1948) American sociologist and Professor of Sociology at the University of Chicago.

Abott (2002) “Welcome to the University of Chicago http://www.ditext.com/abbott/abbott_aims.html Aims of Education Address. 2002

Khaled Hosseini photo

“Marriage can wait, education cannot.”

Khaled Hosseini book A Thousand Splendid Suns

Source: A Thousand Splendid Suns

“Powerful people cannot afford to educate the people that they oppress, because once you are truly educated, you will not ask for power. You will take it.”

John Henrik Clarke (1915–1998) American historian and writer

“Prediction can never be absolutely valid and therefore science can never prove some generalization or even test a single descriptive statement and in that way arrive at final truth.”

Gregory Bateson (1904–1980) English anthropologist, social scientist, linguist, visual anthropologist, semiotician and cyberneticist

Source: Mind and Nature, a necessary unity, 1988, p. 29

Franz Kafka photo

“I can prove at any time that my education tried to make another person out of me than the one I became.”

Franz Kafka (1883–1924) author

(July 1910)
The Diaries of Franz Kafka 1910-1923 (1948)
Context: I can prove at any time that my education tried to make another person out of me than the one I became. It is for the harm, therefore, that my educators could have done me in accordance with their intentions that I reproach them; I demand from their hands the person I now am, and since they cannot give him to me, I make of my reproach and laughter a drumbeat sounding in the world beyond.

Friedrich Nietzsche photo

“Your educators can only be your liberators.”

Friedrich Nietzsche Untimely Meditations

Source: Untimely Meditations

David Guterson photo

“We should recognize that schools will never solve the bedrock problems of education because the problems are problems of families, of cultural pressures that the schools reflect and thus cannot really remedy.”

David Guterson (1956) Novelist, short story writer, poet, journalist, and essayist

"When Schools Fail Children: An English Teacher Educates His Kids at Home", Harper's Magazine (November 1990)

“No revolution happens before its time. It cannot be rushed. When the circumstances are right, it cannot be stopped. It can, however, be directed or misdirected.”

David Lane (white nationalist) (1938–2007) American white supremacist, convicted felon

Revolution by Number

Mata Amritanandamayi photo

“There are two types of education: education for livelihood and education for life. When we study in college, it helps us to get a job so that we can earn a living. We can become a doctor, a scientist, an engineer or whatever we want. We may go on to attain wealth, possession and fame. All of this comes from education for livelihood. But this alone will never make our life full and complete. Education is not only to help us live a comfortable life of plenty. When our plans fall apart, when we face failure and loss, when we are knocked down, education should help us get back on our feet. Education should help us regain our mental equipoise, self-confidence and positive attitude, so that we can continue forward. This is why education for life is as important as education for livelihood. Education for life is spirituality.”

Mata Amritanandamayi (1953) Hindu spiritual leader and guru

Amritanandamayi's Address Upon Receiving an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from the State University of New York (2010)

Related topics