The education of youth, an employment of more consequence than making laws and preaching the gospel, because it lays the foundation on which both law and gospel rest for success.
Noah WebsterRead
To exterminate our popular vices is a work of far more importance to the character and happiness of our citizens than any other improvements in our system of education.
Interpretation
Eliminating societal vices is more crucial for the well-being of citizens than improving education alone.
Noah Webster emphasizes that addressing and eliminating popular vices within society is paramount for enhancing the character and happiness of individuals, suggesting that education improvements, while important, are secondary to the moral and ethical development that comes from correcting societal flaws.
In practice
In a speech on community improvement, one might use this quote to highlight the importance of moral responsibility.
The education of youth, an employment of more consequence than making laws and preaching the gospel, because it lays the foundation on which both law and gospel rest for success.
It is an object of vast magnitude that systems of education should be adopted and pursued which may not only diffuse a knowledge of the sciences but may implant in the minds of the American youth the principles of virtue and of liberty and inspire them with just and liberal ideas of government and with an inviolable attachment to their own country.
The virtues of men are of more consequence to society than their abilities, and for this reason, the heart should be cultivated with more assiduity than the head.
In selecting men for office, let principle be your guide. Regard not the particular sect or denomination of the candidate-look to his character.
Language is not an abstract construction of the learned, or of dictionary makers, but is something arising out of the work, needs, ties, joys, affections, tastes, of long generations of humanity, and has its bases broad and low, close to the ground
Nothing has a greater tendency to lessen the reverence which mankind ought to have for the Supreme Being, than a careless repetition of his name upon every trifling occasion . . . . To prevent this profanation, such passages are selected from scripture, as contain some important precepts of morality and religion, in which that sacred name is seldom mentioned. Let sacred things be appropriated to sacred purposes.
Teachers teach because they care. Teaching young people is what they do best. It requires long hours, patience, and care.
Writing practice brings us back to the uniqueness of our own minds and an acceptance of it. We all have wild dreams, fantasies, and ordinary thoughts. Let us to feel the texture of them and not be afraid of them.Writing is still the wildest thing I know.
Three Rules for Literary Success: 1. Read a lot. _x000D_ 2. Write a lot. 3. Read a lot more, write a lot more.
The shelf was filled with books that were hard to read, that could devastate and remake one's soul, and that, when they were finished, had a kick like a mule.
Only 50 years ago persons with intellectual disabilities were scorned, isolated and neglected. Today, they are able to attend school, become employed and assimilate into their local community.
You write for two people, yourself and your audience, who are usually better educated and at least as smart.
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