The least of the work of learning is done in the classroom.
Interpretation
Real learning often occurs outside traditional classroom settings.
This quote by Thomas Merton emphasizes that much of what we learn comes from experiences and interactions beyond the formal academic environment. While classrooms provide essential foundational knowledge, true understanding and growth are often shaped by life experiences, personal exploration, and practical application of concepts learned.
In practice
In a speech about lifelong learning, you might use this quote to highlight the importance of experiential learning.
The devil is no fool. He can get people feeling about heaven the way they ought to feel about hell. He can make them fear the means of grace the way they do not fear sin. And he does so, not by light but by obscurity, not by realities but by shadows; not by clarity and substance, but by dreams and the creatures of psychosis. And men are so poor in intellect that a few cold chills down their spine will be enough to keep them from ever finding out the truth about anything.
Our vocation is not simply to be, but to work together with God in the creation of our own life, our own identity, our own destiny....To work out our identity in God.
Conscience is the light by which we interpret the will of God in our own lives.
You are made in the image of what you desire.
But if you want to identify me, ask me not where I live, or what I like to eat, or how I comb my hair, but ask me what I think I am living for.
I have the immense joy of being man, a member of a race in which God Himself became incarnate. As if the sorrows and stupidities of the human condition could overwhelm me, now that I realize what we all are. And if only everybody could realize this! But it cannot be explained. There is no way of telling people that they are all walking around shining like the sun.
Bilingualism is for me the fundamental problem of linguistics.
If you would be holy, instruct your children, because all the good acts they perform will be imputed to you.
Hillary Clinton understands that we have to invest in education and jobs for our young people, not more jails or incarceration.
I have a big problem with people who glamorize dumbness and demonize education and intellect. And I'm giving a pretty good description of Sarah Palin right now.
I think children love reading, and they will make time for it if we put the right books into their hands. And I hope I get the chance to keep being one of the people that writes them.
Schools must inquire deeper into their own practices, explore new ways to motivate their learners, make use of learning styles, introduce multiple intelligences, integrate learning, and teach thinking, and in the process discover the passion and moral purpose that makes teaching exciting and effective.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.