Mark Twain Quotes on Education and Schooling

The genius writer and father of American literature,  Mark Twain, was not educated beyond elementary school. His expresses cynicism toward the mediocre education system of this time in his quotes about education. He believed that schooling was different from education and learning. He warns us of the hazards of following the education system with blind faith. In Praise of Learning and Training Training is everything. The peach was once a bitter almond; cauliflower is nothing but cabbage with a college education. The man who does not read books has no advantage over the man that can not read them. There is nothing training cannot do. Nothing is above its reach. It can turn bad morals to good; it can destroy bad principles and recreate good ones; it can lift men to angel ship. Every time you stop a school, you will have to build a jail. What you gain at one end you lose at the other. Its like feeding a dog on his own tail. It wont fatten the dog. It is noble to teach oneself, but still nobler to teach others - and less trouble. A man who carries a cat by the tail learns something he can learn in no other way. Thousands of geniuses live and die undiscovered - either by themselves or by others. Learning softeneth the heart and breedeth gentleness and charity. Criticism of Schooling Education consists mainly of what we have unlearned. We have not the reverent feeling for the rainbow that a savage has because we know how it is made. We have lost as much as we gained by prying into that matter. God made the Idiot for practice, and then He made the School Board. Just the omission of Jane Austens books alone would make a fairly good library out of a library that hadnt a book in it. I never let my schooling interfere with my education. Everything has its limit - iron ore cannot be educated into gold. All schools, all colleges, have two great functions: to confer, and to conceal valuable knowledge. Mark Twain Quips on Specific Subjects The very ink with which all history is written is merely fluid prejudice. I dont give a damn for a man that can only spell a word one way. There are lies, damned lies, and statistics. Facts are stubborn, but statistics are more pliable. Classic. A book which people praise and dont read. I was gratified to be able to answer promptly, and I did. I said I didnt know. Why shouldnt truth be stranger than fiction? Fiction, after all, has to make sense. We could use up two Eternities in learning all that is to be learned about our own world and the thousands of nations that have arisen and flourished and vanished from it. Mathematics alone would occupy me eight million years. Many public-school children seem to know only two dates - 1492 and 4th of July, and as a rule, they dont know what happened on either occasion.

Essay about Psychoanalytic Literary Criticism - 2493 Words

I strongly believe that every person who reads a book, listens to the radio, or watches a program on television will make their own assumptions. I know I do. Most of us will ask, â€Å"Why did the main character make that decision?† Or â€Å"What were they thinking?† Could it be that the author of the story is protruding their own subconscious thoughts and beliefs through their characters? Absolutely, most critics have adapted psychoanalytic literary criticism theory based upon the works of psychoanalysis by famous psychologists Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, and Jacques Lacan to literary works. Psychoanalytic literary criticism does not constitute a unified field....However, all variants endorse, at least to a certain†¦show more content†¦Ã¢â‚¬Å"To discover [the author’s] intention . . . I must first discover the meaning and content of what is represented in his work; I must, in other words, be able to interpret it† (Freud 212). The analysis is of the author, characters, audience and text. â€Å"A Woman Like Me’ written by Xi Xi from Hong Kong, in 1982 is about a woman who lied to her boyfriend about her profession because she was afraid she would lose him. Her fear came about when her aunt, the woman who taught her everything she knows about her profession explained her own past when the man she loved left her for being a mortuary cosmetician. In â€Å"Swaddling Clothes† written by Mishima Yukio from Japan in 1966, a young woman is haunted by fresh memories of her unwedded wet nurse who gives birth in her home. The vision of the child who is wrapped in newspaper by the doctor drives her to obsess about the child’s future. And lastly, â€Å"The Necklace† written by Guy de Maupassant from France in 1884, pertains to a woman who is unhappy with her life. She and her husband gets to attend a high end social, in order to look her best she borrows what she thinks is an expensive necklace. Soon after leaving the ball she discovers she loses the necklace. Thus, begins a ten year struggle to replace the item. In psychoanalyzing literary characters it’s said that the characters are usually projections of an author’s own psyche. The theory is used to analyze theShow MoreRelatedEssay on Nella Larsens Passing1387 Words   |  6 Pagesfamiliar and unfamiliar. The uncanny can be defined as something that creates a feeling of familiarity but also unfamiliarity, and this unfamiliarity is what is fearful to the individual. Freud’s essay â€Å"The Uncanny† can be related to the field of literary criticism because he explains how the feeling of the uncanny relates to the author’s attempt to convey a certain response from their audience. This type of analysis bridges Freud’s work and Larsen’s novel in order to re-examine and debate certain momentsRead MoreCharacters Giving Monologue William Faulkner’s Novel, As I Lay Dying807 Words   |  3 PagesLiterary critic Patricia Waugh asserted, â€Å"Psychoanalytic literary criticism does not constitute a unified field....However, all variants endorse, at least to a certain degree, the idea that l iterature is fundamentally entwined with the psyche.† William Faulkner’s novel, As I Lay Dying, institutes elements of the psych which allow the text to be analyzed through the psychoanalytic lens. There are several events that go unexplained in the novel and they all seem to revolve around Darl; the psychoanalyticRead MorePsychoanalytic Criticism on Emily Dickinson Essay1086 Words   |  5 PagesPsychological criticism is known as the type of criticism that analyses the writer’s work within the realms of Freud’s psychological theories. 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In order to define Freudian literary criticism, we will examine how various criticsRead MoreMy Experience As A New College Student Essay1455 Words   |  6 Pagesadaptable, so the transition to dorm life was not as stressful for me as it may have been to my peers, which allowed me to focus much more easily on my studies. Looking back on ENG 202, I now know that while I am versatile in taking on different literary theories and remaining consistent, my time management leaves much to be desired. I chose the English major itself due to my passion for languages, as well as my aspiration to teach English as a foreign language. My focus on linguistics, however,Read MoreAn Overview and Commentary on Course Objectives Essay2215 Words   |  9 PagesI have learned, to at least show the course objectives have been met (even if some of my argumentation comes across as spurious and groundless). Our first sojourn is into the realm of Reader-Response theory. 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Siddhartha Free Essays

Many novels and other pieces of literature, contain a main character that has difficulty finding happiness and solutions to their problems. In Siddhartha, the main character Siddhartha, is born into his fathers social class but finds himself not pleased with his religion nor happiness, so he goes on a journey hoping to find comfort within himself. Like Siddhartha the main character in the Razors Edge, Larry Darnell questions his religion, and everyday decisions. We will write a custom essay sample on Siddhartha or any similar topic only for you Order Now Both Larry Darnell and Siddhartha break off from their original society to go on expeditions in hope to find answers to their unanswered concerns, and to find enlightenment. Both characters willingly give up things in order to reach their goal. Siddhartha leaves his father and his father’s power in their community.†¯ Siddhartha’s father, a Brahmin leader, has much power which makes him able to provide for Siddhartha well.†¯ Siddhartha does not like the ways his father is living and is dissatisfied with his father’s religious beliefs because he sees that his father and his followers are not reaching enlightenment so he feels that it would not make sense to follow a method that obviously is not working.†¯ He and his best friend, Govinda, decide to commence on a journey to find a way of life that is satisfying to them. Making the decision to leave his family and home must have been a very hard choice to make for such a young man to make. Later on in the book, Siddhartha leaves even more of his loved ones behind in his exploration for enlightenment.   He departs from his friend Govinda when Govinda feels that he is content with the samanas and their teachings and Siddhartha feels that he must experience life for his own in order to find inner happiness.   Govinda is Siddhartha’s best friend and was with him through the toughest of times. Siddhartha loves Govinda, but knows that it was in the best interest of both of them to part ways. Additionally, Siddhartha feels the need to let his only child, whom he loves dearly, to go off on his own and experience life’s qualities for himself just like how Siddhartha did during his own childhood. Although he knows it is the right thing to do, Siddhartha feels a natural love towards his newly discovered son and is dreadfully heartbroken by his absence.   Likewise, Larry Darrell willingly gives up a lot of things for his hunt towards world knowledge and inner happiness. Larry gives up Isabel, the woman he’s known and loved since he was a child with no parents, because she wanted a life of luxury and wealth.   Larry did not want that because he wanted to live a modest life where he lives off of the rush that comes with learning and living freely and not trapped in a life full of materialism and capital gain.   He believes that money is not necessary and even goes to the extent of declining a lavish job offer from his best friend’s father. He would have been one of Mr. Maturin’s stock brokers and he would have been practically guaranteed huge sums of money and would have been able to support Isabel to the standard of living that she is used to.   Also, Larry gives up his friend Yosti to focus on his goal.   He and Yosti become great friends when they room together at the mines and go looking for farm work together.   Larry feels that it is his time to move on and abandons Yosti at a farm.   Though in the end it paid off, both characters willingly gave up things in order to reach enlightenment. Both characters gain knowledge while on their quest.   Siddhartha learns a lot from his young son. His son taught him about the true meaning of love. Siddhartha started out on his journey with the thought that you do not need to love everything because some things just are not lovable. His son taught him that you must love everything and yourself to respect the world and everything inside of it.   Siddhartha feels a natural love toward his son and was utterly heartbroken when the time came when he had to let his son go. His son is not the only person that affected him, for the river also had quite an impact on Siddhartha.   The river showed him that time does not really exist and that everything always comes back around. Siddhartha is relieved by this idea because the stresses that time brings are now suddenly lifted off from him.   The idea that everything comes back around is paralleled to Siddhartha’s life because he left his father to go and explore life on his own and now his own son does the same. Siddhartha also learns the difference between knowledge and wisdom and the difference between seeking and finding.   He comes to the conclusion at the end of the novel that â€Å"Knowledge can be communicated, but not wisdom† (Hesse 142) and that â€Å"Seeking means: to have a goal; but finding means: to be free, to be receptive, to have no goal† (Hesse 140).   Correspondingly, Larry is affected by people as well. He meets a yogi and brings him questions about god and evil. The yogi teaches him about the Hindu religion and explains to Larry that â€Å"evil is as a direct a manifestation of the divine as the good† (Maugham 114).   Larry is greatly affected by the yogi and takes the information that the yogi shared with him for the rest of his journey. He is also influenced by reading books. He gains worldly knowledge from reading and uses it to his advantage.   He reads about all kinds of philosophies and ideas that bring him to question religion and God.   Larry also learns from experiences.   He decides to leave his friends in Chicago and live in Paris to simply clear his mind and get his thoughts straight.   He also goes to work in a coal mine, a job of which many people would despise having, just to see what it’s like to have some manual labor under his belt.   Most â€Å"people would think [he is] crazy† (Maugham 46) for doing unnecessary hard labor like Larry does, but that doesn’t seem to bother him.   He later went on a 5 year expedition starting in a monastery in Germany and ending with a Hindu yogi in India where he lived â€Å"with calmness, forbearance, compassion, selflessness, and continence† (Maugham 279). This makes him decide to ditch Christianity and makes him very open to Hindu beliefs.   Larry also learns a lot from his time served in World War I.   He was a pilot and him and his best friend, Patsy, got into a dogfight in the air and Patsy literally took a bullet for Larry and died. This event is truly when Larry begins to question religion and God.   Overall, Larry and Siddhartha are greatly influenced by others while going through his journey and learn a lot along the way. Siddhartha and Larry have great effects on other people on their path to enlightenment.   They never seem to shy away from sharing their knowledge with those who will listen. Siddhartha influences his longtime friend Govinda by explaining to him all that he has learned on his voyage. He tells Govinda the meaning and importance of love, seeking and wisdom. When Siddhartha goes in depth about love he describes how a person must love themselves in order to be grateful for anything else that exists in the world. Siddhartha picks up a rock acknowledging how he loves this rock: â€Å"it is a stone, because today and now it appears to me a stone. I see value and meaning in each of its fine mark ings and cavities in the yellow in the gray in the hardness and the sound of it† (Hesse 145).   This lesson has a huge impact for Govinda, and he â€Å"bow[es] low. Incontrollable tears trickl[e] down his old face† (Hesse 151).   Govinda is truly inspired by the teachings and his knowledge about the world. Govinda is just one of the people that he influenced. Siddhartha has an effect on his friend Kamala. Kamala is a very materialistic person and Siddhartha opens her eyes to the idea that material goods are not the most important things in life. She is inspired by this thought and takes a page from his book to further her learning.   She then becomes pregnant with Siddhartha’s son and raises him under Buddhist beliefs and eventually dies in an attempt to travel to meet Buddha himself.   In general, Siddhartha has a positive effect on people that he has encountered with along his journey. Equally, Larry has positive effects on several people along his journey. Larry affects Isabel when she sabotages her own plan to make Larry think that she was pregnant. She thinks of him as being too innocent and sweet to do anything menacing to him. He also makes her question her marriage with Gray because she still loves Larry.   Furthermore, Larry makes a strong attempt to change Sophie.   After her husband and child’s sudden death, Sophie turns to drugs and alcohol to ease her pain. Larry puts Sophie’s problems on his back and helps rehabilitate her and even asked for her hand in marriage.   She accepts his proposal but then relapses and goes back to her bad habits. Although he ultimately failed, Larry still put in a great effort in helping Sophie.   Larry also affects Suzanne by taking her off of the streets and taking care of her when she needed it the most.   Larry finds her and feels that he is obligated to help her so he briefly gives her and her young daughter a home to live in, money and accompanies them through all of this to ensure that they are all right. Larry gives Suzanne hope and the two of them become very close, close enough that Larry tells her about his scarring experiences in World War I. Towards the end of their relationship they have sex and then the next morning Larry decides that Suzanne is ready to get back on her feet and leaves her with money and good people to surround herself with. He leaves her with a pleasing life which she greatly appreciates. As a whole, Larry and Siddhartha are influential in many people’s lives and truly become teachers. People reach enlightenment in different ways.   Siddhartha reaches enlightenment by experiencing all aspects of life and being very open minded so he is not a seeker and is a finder.   Larry Darrell reaches enlightenment by reading, loafing, helping others, questioning religion, and keeping his personal space.   Both characters learn, teach, and sacrifice during their journey towards happiness and both characters evidently reach their goal in the end. How to cite Siddhartha, Essay examples