The great object of Education should be commensurate with the object of life. It should be a moral one; to teach self-trust: to inspire the youthful man with an interest in himself; with a curiosity touching his own nature; to acquaint him with the resources of his mind, and to teach him that there is all his strength.
Interpretation
Education should focus on moral development and self-trust, aligning with the purpose of life.
In this quote, Ralph Waldo Emerson emphasizes that education should not only be about acquiring knowledge but also about fostering moral values and self-awareness. He argues that true education inspires individuals to trust themselves, explore their own potential, and understand their inner strengths, thereby linking the ultimate goals of education with the broader objectives of life itself.
In practice
In a graduation speech, to inspire students to see the value of self-discovery in their education.
It is plain that there is no separate essence called courage, no cup or cell in the brain, no vessel in the heart containing drops or atoms that make or give this virtue; but it is the right or healthy state of every man, when he is free to do that which is constitutional to him to do.
Few people have any next, they live from hand to mouth without a plan, and are always at the end of their line.
Men cease to interest us when we find their limitations
Tis the good reader that makes the good book; a good head cannot read amiss: in every book he finds passages which seem confidences or asides hidden from all else and unmistakeably meant for his ear.
The world belongs to the energetic.
Hast thou named all the birds without a gun?
History education in schools is so poor that students often enter college ignorant of the past - and leave just as unenlightened.
Great books help you understand, and they help you feel understood.
Make this the golden rule, the equivalent of the Hippocratic oath: Everything we ask a child to do should be worth doing.
I want education for the sons and daughters of the Taliban and all the terrorists and extremists. I do not even hate the Talib who shot me. Even if there was a gun in my hand and he was standing in front of me, I would not shoot him. This is the compassion I have learned from Mohamed, the prophet of mercy, Jesus Christ and Lord Buddha.
Virtue, though she gets her beginning from nature, yet receives her finishing touches from learning.
Given the choice between trivial material brilliantly told versus profound material badly told, an audience will always choose the trivial told brilliantly.
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