Anytime you see a turtle up on top of a fence post, you know he had some help.
Alex HaleyRead
I certainly wasn't seeking any degree, the way a college confers a status symbol upon its students. My homemade education gave me, with every additional book that I read, a little bit more sensitivity to the deafness, dumbness and blindness that was afflicting the black race in America. Not long ago, an English writer telephoned me, asking questions. One was, "What's your alma mater?" I told him, "Books.
Interpretation
What this quote means
True education comes from self-study and personal experience rather than formal credentials.
In this quote, Alex Haley emphasizes the significance of self-education over formal schooling, highlighting that his real learning came from the books he read and the personal insights he gained. He reflects on how this journey of unstructured learning made him more aware of the struggles faced by the black community, suggesting that true wisdom is often found outside traditional academic settings.
Themes
EducationSelf-StudyWisdomBooksAwareness
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about lifelong learning, you could say, 'As Alex Haley put it, my alma mater is books.'
More from Alex Haley
All quotes →Tying the little folks with the older folks is a great and powerful tool to preserve and to protect the family and the individual.
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That's what happens with writing. Ingredients bubble and cook. Material becomes substance.
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I think one of the most fascinating things you can do after you learn about your own people is to study something about the history and culture of other people.
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In every conceivable manner, the family is link to our past, bridge to our future.
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Either you deal with what is the reality, or you can be sure that the reality is going to deal with you.
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Similar quotes
Time passed solely in the pursuit of pleasure leaves no solid enjoyment for the future; but from the hours you spend in reading and studying useful books, you will gather a golden harvest in future years.
Dorothea DixRead
Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print. Never use a long word where a short one will do. If it is possible to cut a word out always cut it out. Never use the passive voice where you can use the active. Never use a foreign phrase a scientific word or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent. Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.
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Learning to read music in Braille and play by ear helped me develop a damn good memory.
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Some are bewildered in the maze of schools, And some made coxcombs nature meant but fools.
Alexander PopeRead
There's a disease that young writers are susceptible to, which is, I will do this because I can - hubris, I suppose - without stopping to work out why.
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Except for teachers, who are 'controlled' as far as his militancy is concerned, good jobs are rare for Negroes.
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