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“Education shapes the moral grammar of a nation. It teaches citizens not just how to earn, but how to reason, dissent, and coexist. An unthinking population is the easiest to govern and the hardest to liberate.”

Last update Sept. 26, 2026. History

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“Tyrants forbid citizens to do their duty as free men. Free government permits them to do it. Liberal education enables them to do it.”

Stringfellow Barr (1897–1982) American writer

"Liberal Education: Enabling Citizens to do their Duty as Free Men", Report of the president of St. John's College to the Board of Visitors and Governors, May, 1941. Hanging in Buchanan Hall, St. John's College Annapolis

“There are obviously two educations. One should teach us how to make a living and the other how to live.”

James Truslow Adams (1878–1949) American writer and historian

To "Be" or to "DO" Forum, Jun 1929; VOL. LXXXI, NO. 6
Misattributed
Context: There are obviously two educations. One should teach us how to make a living and the other how to live. Surely these should never be confused in the mind of any man who has the slightest inkling of what culture is. For most of us it is essential that we should make a living... In the complications of modern life and with our increased accumulation of knowledge, it doubtless helps greatly to compress some years of experience into far fewer years by studying for a particular trade or profession in an institution; but that fact should not blind us to another—namely, that in so doing we are learning a trade or a profession, but are not getting a liberal education as human beings.

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“There are obviously two educations. One should teach us how to make a living and the other how to live.”

John Adams (1735–1826) 2nd President of the United States

James Truslow Adams; sometimes rendered : "There are two educations. One should teach us how to make a living and the other how to live".
Misattributed

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“Let not England forget her precedence of teaching nations how to live.”

John Milton (1608–1674) English epic poet

The Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce Preface: "TO THE PARLAMENT OF ENGLAND" https://www.dartmouth.edu/~milton/reading_room/ddd/parliament/text.shtml (1643)

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