From this I conclude that the best education for the situations of actual life consists of the experience we acquire from the study of serious history. For it is history alone which without causing us harm enables us to judge what is the best course in any situation or circumstance.
Interpretation
Education is best derived from learning history, as it provides valuable insights for real-life situations.
In this quote, Polybius emphasizes the importance of studying serious history as a means of education relevant to real-life situations. He argues that understanding historical events and their outcomes allows us to make informed decisions in our own lives, providing a framework for judgment in various circumstances without the negative consequences of trial and error.
In practice
In a speech about the importance of education, one might quote Polybius to highlight the value of historical knowledge.
Can any one be so indifferent or idle as not to care to know by what means, and under what kind of polity, almost the whole inhabited world was conquered and_x000D_ brought under the dominion of the single city of Rome, and that too within a period of not quite fifty-three years?
The particular aspect of history which both attracts and benefits its readers is the examination of causes and the capacity, which is the reward of this study, to decide in each case the best policy to follow. Now in all political situations we must understand that the principle factor which makes for success or failure is the form of a state's constitution: it is from this source, as if from a fountainhead, that all designs and plans of action not only originate but reach their fulfillment.
Since the masses of the people are inconstant, full of unruly desires, passionate, and reckless of consequences, they must be filled with fears to keep them in order. The ancients did well, therefore, to invent gods, and the belief in punishment after death.
If history is deprived of the Truth, we are left with nothing but an idle, unprofitable tale.
A good general not only sees the way to victory; he also knows when victory is impossible.
My eighth grade teacher, Mrs. Pabst, had done her master's thesis on Tolkien. She showed me how the trilogy was patterned after Norse mythology. She was also the first person to encourage me to submit stories for publication. The idea of writing a fantasy based on myths never left me, and many years later, this would lead me to write Percy Jackson.
To educate the intelligence is to expand the horizon of its wants and desires.
The unit of effectiveness of education is not the individual but the group. An individual's moral values are primarily important for society as they contribute to a moral social climate, not as they induce particular pieces of behavior.
It's not good enough to give it tender, loving care, to supply it with breakfast foods, to buy it expensive educations. Those things don't mean anything unless this generation has a future. And we're not sure that it does.
I had great mentors in my parents who always sought to understand the world around them. And they would push me to really think things through.
Children are more influenced by sermons you act than by sermons you preach.
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