Acquire a government over your ideas, that they may come down when they are called, and depart when they are bidden.
Isaac WattsRead
Once a day, especially in the early years of life and study, call yourselves to an account what new ideas, what new proposition or truth you have gained, what further confirmation of known truths, and what advances you have made in any part of knowledge.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote encourages regular self-reflection on one's learning and understanding throughout life, especially in the formative years.
Isaac Watts emphasizes the importance of daily self-reflection on one's intellectual growth and discoveries. He suggests that especially during the early stages of life and education, individuals should assess what new ideas or truths they have learned, how their existing knowledge has been reinforced, and the progress they’ve made in their understanding of various subjects. This practice not only promotes continuous learning but also fosters a habit of accountability in one's intellectual journey.
Themes
Self-ReflectionEducationLearningKnowledgeGrowth
In practice
Example use cases
This quote would be perfect to open a seminar on lifelong learning.
More from Isaac Watts
All quotes →Instructors should not only be skilful in those sciences which they teach, but have skill in the method of teaching, and patience in the practice.
Isaac WattsRead
Acquaint yourself with your own ignorance.
Isaac WattsRead
To prevent and suppress rising resentment is wise and glorious, is manly and divine.
Isaac WattsRead
Kind words toward those you daily meet, Kind words and actions right, Will make this life of ours most sweet, Turn darkness into night.
Isaac WattsRead
Though reading and conversation may furnish us with many ideas of men and things, yet it is our own meditation must form our judgment.
Isaac WattsRead
Similar quotes
Every literate woman is a victory over poverty
Ban Ki-MoonRead
We must be trained to clarify minds, heal broken hearts, and create homes where sunshine will make an environment in which mental and spiritual health may be nurtured. Our schooling must not only teach us how to bridge the Niagara River gorge, or the Golden Gate, but must teach us how to bridge the deep gaps of misunderstanding and hate and discord in the world.
Spencer W. KimballRead
From the standpoint of the child, the great waste in the school comes from his inability to utilize the experiences he gets outside the school in any complete and free way within the school itself; while, on the other hand, he is unable to apply in daily life what he is learning at school. That is the isolation of the school — its isolation from life.
John DeweyRead
An editor is a person who knows more about writing than writers do but who has escaped the terrible desire to write.
E. B. WhiteRead
Sequencing - the careful striptease by which you reveal information to the reader - matters in an article, but it is absolutely essential to a book.
Joshua FoerRead
The PhD system is the real root of the evil of academic snobbery. People who have PhDs consider themselves a priesthood, and inventors generally don't have PhDs.
Freeman DysonRead