Talking to Yogi Berra about baseball is like talking to Homer about the Gods.
A. Bartlett GiamattiRead
Universities are not here to be mediums for the coercion of other people, they're here to be mediums for the free exchange of ideas.
Interpretation
Universities should facilitate open discussion rather than force beliefs on individuals.
A. Bartlett Giamatti emphasizes that the primary role of universities is to foster an environment where diverse ideas can be freely discussed and debated, rather than being institutions that impose specific ideologies or beliefs on their students. This perspective highlights the importance of academic freedom and the value of varied viewpoints in enriching the educational experience.
In practice
In a speech at a graduation ceremony to remind students of the importance of open dialogue.
Talking to Yogi Berra about baseball is like talking to Homer about the Gods.
It breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart. The game begins in spring, when everything else begins again, and it blossoms in the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings, and then as soon as the chill rains come, it stops and leaves you to face the fall alone.
The best way to get kids to read a book is to say: 'This book is not appropriate for your age, and it has all sorts of horrible things in it like sex and death and some really big and complicated ideas, and you're better off not touching it until you're all grown up. I'm going to put it on this shelf and leave the room for a while. Don't open it.
Deftly they opened the brain of a child, and it was full of flying dreams.
My modus operandi hasn't really changed that much from when I was an English teacher. I wanted my students to leave my classroom loving reading and wanting to read more, and if they left my classroom thinking that reading is boring, then I haven't done my job.
You can have knowledge, and you can be meticulous in your preparation; but without the unction of the Holy Spirit you will have no power, and your preaching will not be effective.
Laws for the liberal education of youth, especially of the lower class of people, are so extremely wise and useful, that, to a humane and generous mind, no expense for this purpose would be thought extravagant.
I feel that for years of teaching in the country and reading criticism in books, I feel like the things most needed in our culture are the understanding of the meanings of our music. We haven't done that good of job teaching our kids what our music means or how we developed our taste in music that reminds us and teaches us who we are.
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