While the business of education in Europe consists in lectures upon the ruins of Palmyra and the antiquities of Herculaneum , or in disputes about Hebrew points, Greek particles, or the accent and quantity of the Roman language, the youth of America will be employed in acquiring those branches of knowledge which increase the conveniences of life.
Interpretation
This quote contrasts the focus of European education with that of American education, highlighting practical knowledge over classical studies.
Benjamin Rush critiques the European educational system, which he perceives as preoccupied with antiquity and theoretical disputes, suggesting it lacks relevance to practical life. In contrast, he praises the American educational approach that prioritizes knowledge that enhances everyday conveniences and prepares individuals for modern living. This reflection underlines the importance of adapting education to meet contemporary needs and societal advancements.
In practice
This quote can be used in a speech about modernizing educational curricula to focus on practical skills.
...This large and expensive stock of drugs will be unnecessary. By...doses of...medicines...multiplying...combining them properly, 20 to 30 articles, aided by the common resources of the lancet, a garden, a kitchen, fresh air, cool water, exercise, will be sufficient to cure all the diseases that are at present under the power of medicine.
The Bible, when not read in schools, is seldom read in any subsequent period of life...The Bible...should be read in our schools in preference to all other books because it contains the greatest portion of that kind of knowledge which is calculated to produce private and public happiness.
The gospel of Jesus Christ prescribes the wisest rules for just conduct in every situation in life. Happy they who are enabled to obey them in all situations!
Dissections daily convince us of our ignorance of the seats of diseases, and cause us to blush at our prescriptions. How often are we disappointed in our expectation from the most certain and powerful of our remedies, by the negligence or obstinacy of our patients! What mischief have we done under the belief of false facts and false theories! We have assisted in multiplying diseases. We have done more — we have increased their mortality.
Temperate, sincere, and intelligent inquiry and discussion are only to be dreaded by the advocates of error. The truth need not fear them.
The art of healing is like an unroofed temple, uncovered at the top and cracked at the foundation.
Research shows that for jobs of all kinds, emotional intelligence is twice as important an ingredient of outstanding performance as cognitive ability and technical skill combined.
So, please, oh please, we beg, we pray, go throw your TV set away, and in its place you can install, a lovely bookcase on the wall.
The writers we absorb when we're young bind us to them, sometimes lightly, sometimes with iron. In time, the bonds fall away, but if you look very closely you can sometimes make out the pale white groove of a faded scar, or the telltale chalky red of old rust.
The most important practical lesson than can be given to nurses is to teach them what to observe.
The foundations of any subject may be taught to anybody at any age in some form.
The tragedy in our colleges and seminaries right now is that we turn men out who know the word of God. That is never going to turn the world._x000D_ The question is not whether they know the Word of God...._x000D_ The question is......Do they know the God of the Word?
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