Never discourage anyone who continually makes progress, no matter how slow... even if that someone is yourself!
PlatoRead
By education I mean that training in excellence from youth upward which makes a man passionately desire to be a perfect citizen, and teaches him to rule, and to obey, with justice. This is the only education which deserves the name.
Interpretation
Plato emphasizes the importance of education in shaping individuals to be just and responsible citizens.
In this quote, Plato underscores the significance of education not merely as a means of acquiring knowledge, but as a formative process that instills a desire for excellence and virtue in individuals. He argues that true education is one that nurtures a passion for justice and prepares individuals to take on the responsibilities of citizenship—both in ruling and obeying—thus contributing to the greater good of society.
In practice
During a graduation speech to emphasize the role of education in shaping aware citizens.
Never discourage anyone who continually makes progress, no matter how slow... even if that someone is yourself!
Not one of them who took up in his youth with this opinion that there are no gods ever continued until old age faithful to his conviction.
...for the object of education is to teach us to love beauty.
Pleasure is the greatest incentive to evil.
Nothing in the affairs of men is worthy of great anxiety.
Let parents bequeath to their children not riches, but the spirit of reverence.
My first program taught me a lot about the errors that I was going to be making in the future, and also about how to find errors. That's sort of the story of my life, making errors and trying to recover from them. I try to get things correct. I probably obsess about not making too many mistakes.
Routinely, when I finish a book, I think 'What will I do? Where will I get an idea?' And a kind of low-level panic sets in.
English is necessary as at present original works of science are in English. I believe that in two decades times original works of science will start coming out in our languages. Then we can move over like the Japanese.
I emphasize teachers because they are largely left out of the debate. None of the bombastic reports that come from Washington and think tanks telling us what needs to be 'fixed' - I hate such a mechanistic word, as if our schools were automobile engines - ever asks the opinions of teachers.
A person standing in front of an audience without enthusiasm for his subject and his actions is disconnected from his spirit.
Nothing is more common than for men to think that because they are familiar with words they understand the ideas they stand for.
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